


Yellow Wood

by STAY_tiny_8



Category: ATEEZ (Band), Red Velvet (K-pop Band), Stray Kids (Band)
Genre: Actor Hwang Hyunjin, Actress Park Sooyoung | Joy, Alternate Universe - Actors, Angst, Cop Lee Seungmin, Cop Seo Changbin, Crimes & Criminals, Dark, Director Bang Chan, Drama, Everyone Needs A Hug, I'm Sorry, M/M, Mental Health Issues, Minor Character Death, Minor Relationships, Minor Violence, OT8, Panic Attacks, Past Relationship(s), Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Prosecuter Park Jisung (Stray Kids), Sad, Soft Park Seonghwa, Strayteez, Trauma, Unhealthy Coping Mechanisms, Yang Jeongin is not a baby, Yang Jeongin | I.N-centric, actor yang jeongin, but everyone is whipped, makeup artist lee feelix, reporter lee minho, who is the murderer
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-13
Updated: 2021-02-07
Packaged: 2021-03-05 02:20:08
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 21,560
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25246750
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/STAY_tiny_8/pseuds/STAY_tiny_8
Summary: Yang Jeongin is a rookie actor who finally managed to get his first major role in the drama Yellow Wood by the director Chris Bang. What he didn't expect however, was his idol and celebrity crush Hwang Hyunjin to play the male lead.And he surely didn't expect to really fall for the older man as he starts to get to know him better. They grow close quickly and everything points towards Jeongin finding a love story like one straight out of a movie.However, when Yellow Wood's producer is suddenly found murdered on set that love story is slowly turning into a nightmare. All the questions and secrets lead Jeongin to question everything he thought he knew about Hyunjin and the friends he made along the way.There was no way one of them was a murderer, right...?--------------------------------"There are a lot of things happening in this world you wouldn't even dream of, Jeongin...and you should be happy about that."
Relationships: Bang Chan/Hwang Hyunjin, Choi San/Jung Wooyoung, Han Jisung | Han/Lee Minho | Lee Know, Hwang Hyunjin/Yang Jeongin | I.N, Jeong Yunho/Song Mingi, Kang Yeosang/Park Seonghwa, Kim Hongjoong/Park Seonghwa, Lee Felix/Seo Changbin
Kudos: 15





	1. Prologue [ENTRANCE]

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome to my first chaptered Stray Kids story featuring Yang Jeongin as our main character. To be honest I don't have the story planned out at all, for now I'm merely writing and letting the ideas form themselves during it. But I'm somehow really excited to write a Jeongin centered story, don't ask me why, he's not my bias or anything ehe. Also, Jeongin is NOT a baby and NOT shy and flustered and the likes. Yes, he's still funny and has bright smiles and such, but honestly, we all know that Jeongin is pretty mature and a deep thinker and I want to portray him as such. We gotta accept that he's growing up.
> 
> This story also features Red Velvet's Joy as the female lead so, yeah, enjoy that hehe.
> 
> I hope you have fun reading! This story is dedicated to Jeongin lol, and to my best friend who is head over heels with him.
> 
> I will post warnings in the beginning of each chapter because I don't want to tag all of them, they would be spoilers. Make sure to read the notes

“Jeongin? Jeongin-Ah, where are you?” A voice swept through the corridors of the 5th floor in the JYP Acting Agency. A man appeared, wearing a bright blue and purple striped suit and a brown leather handbag over one shoulder. He looked about 30 years old and at the moment a frown appeared on his handsome face. “Jeongin-Ah?” he called out again and brushed a hand through his black hair.

Around a corner a door was shut loudly and a second later another man walked down the hallway hurriedly and stopped in front of the other. He had black hair as well and didn’t wear a colourful suit, but a simple black turtleneck with black skinny jeans and a thin grey coat. He looked around twenty years old and had a handsome face as well: intense eyes, sharp jaw and high cheekbones. “Sorry, YoungK-Hyung! I was reading through the script for the commercial and didn’t hear you at first,” the newcomer said sheepishly, a cheeky smile appearing on his youthful looking face. Park Younghyun, called YoungK by everyone, gave Jeongin a look which clearly showed his doubt that the other didn’t hear him. But he wouldn’t have expected anything else from the younger.

“Forget the commercial, I just cancelled it,” YoungK said carelessly and snipped a fuzz from his suit jacket. Jeongin looked at him confused. “What? Why would you cancel that, I’ve been really looking forward to it. A shoot in a racing car, that would have been be so cool!” He looked at the elder outraged. “Well, I’m still your manager, so yes, I can cancel it. Also, you’re an actor not a model, no? And I’ve got something better for you anyways, but I guess you don’t wanna hear it so I’m just gonna go,” YoungK exclaimed and turned around to walk away.

“Wait, Hyung! What do you mean you got something better? You can’t just walk away like this! Tell me…please?” Jeongin said and grabbed YoungK’s arm. He smirked and faced the younger one again. “My my, we don’t often hear a ‘please’ coming from our favourite evil maknae’s lips, do we?” Jeongin scowled at the elder’s smug voice.

“Anyway, yes, I got something better,” YoungK said and pulled out a stack of documents from his handbag, “You see. A director called Bang Chan got interested in you after seeing your acting in ‘Dystopia’ and contacted me with an offer for a role in his new drama called ‘Yellow Wood’.” Jeongin looked at his manager surprised. “Wow, really? Wait, but it’s not that two-lines-role in a cheesy love drama again, is it? And who is Bang Chan, I’ve never heard of him.” YoungK grinned. “First of all, no, it’s actually a crime and coming-of-age drama about 3 teenagers of different social backgrounds and I can assure you that you’ll have to memorize more than two lines. As for Bang Chan, you may know him under his official work name Chris Bang.”

Now Jeongin was gaping. “Chris Bang as in the Korean-Australian director Chris Bang? The one who directed and wrote Hellevator and won a dozen awards for said movie?” YoungK only nodded, still grinning brightly and pushed the documents in Jeongin’s hands. Excitedly, the young actor took a look at them – and let out a gasp. “You’re joking, Hyung. It says ‘second male lead’ here. That can’t be, he doesn’t even know me and I never had a role that important before!” His eyes darted between the documents and YoungK, trying to comprehend what was going on.

“Oh well, but there is no mistake. Bang Chan wrote me a long email and he really liked, I quote, ‘how natural, sharp and intriguing Yang Jeongin’s acting was. I could not look away from him, his eyes said a thousand words and I feel like he’s perfect for the role I need an actor for’,” YoungK spoke and looked at Jeongin with an affectionate gaze. “I’m so proud of you, Innie! You worked so hard and now you will finally have your first major role. I just know that this will be your breakthrough!” He smiled at the young man excitedly.

Jeongin grinned back. “Thank you, Hyung! You’re right, hopefully now my hard work will be rewarded and I can get more major roles after this. But working with Chris Bang, what if he gets disappointed when he sees me and thinks my acting is bad and-” YoungK quieted him down with a stern look. “Yang Jeongin, you listen to me. We both know that your acting is amazing, hell, the whole agency knows. You just had bad luck till now, but how goes the saying? After every rain there is a light, or something like that. And now it’s time for you to walk towards that light. So, don’t you dare chicken out, you hear me? I already cleared your schedule anyways.” Jeongin felt himself blush a bit and rubbed his head. “Alright, Hyung, thank you I guess.” He smiled one of his sheepish smiles. “So, when do we look through those documents and the contract?”

YoungK looked at his gold watch (‘yes gold, Jeongin, I know my worth’) and furrowed his brows. “Well, I think I can spare 30 minutes now. Better get done with that as soon as possible. From what I remember the first reading will be in a week, so we shouldn’t lose any time.” Jeongin nodded and the two of them walked down the hallway towards YoungK’s office. “Oh also, JYP PD-Nim already knows about it and the last time I’ve seen him that excited was when Jinyoung won that Daesang last year. He’s surely gonna come and invite you to dinner, well, hopefully me as well.” Jeongin laughed at his manager’s words. “I’ll make sure you can come along, Hyung.” He answered and opened the door towards YoungK’s office. “Coffee, Hyung?” Jeongin asked and walked over to the small coffee machine YoungK bought a few weeks ago (‘the one in the next hallway is to far away, I need my coffee close, Jeongin’). His Hyung laughed but nodded, “It could seem like this is not my but your office, you little brat.” Jeongin shrugged innocently as a he poured the water in the machine.

Two minutes later the two of them sat down on the bright green couch, the documents on their laps and the steaming coffees in front of them on the small glass table. “Alright then, shall we?” YoungK grinned, rubbing his hands. “This is the start of your, excuse me, our flower road!” He said overly dramatic and Jeongin grinned as they dived into the documents, wishing that his Hyung was right.


	2. Intro: Long Journey

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone, so here is the first chapter. Sorry for the long wait. I have most of basic story line figured out now, so it should go a bit faster now with the updates.  
> I'm a big StayTiny so you're gonna get StrayTeez and you'll like it hahaha. 
> 
> Congratulations to SKZ for reaching 100 million views on God's menu, my limited version finally arrived today. Also, Fever Part 1 ist absolutely perfect: I'm in love!
> 
> Now, enjoy!!!

Some photos for references, this is how the boys look like:

It had been six days since YoungK surprised Jeongin with the amazing news of his new drama and now the young actor felt like he was going crazy. The first reading was tomorrow and he was as nervous as when he finally told his parents that he did not want to study law like they expected him to and instead desired to become an actor. Unsurprisingly, they weren’t exactly happy with their son’s rebellion and until they saw his acting in ‘Dystopia’ they did not really speak to him. To say Jeongin was back on terms with them like he used to would be a lie, but it was slowly getting better.  
Now, it was already ten pm, Jeongin felt like 18 years old all over again. He could not stop thinking about worst-case-scenarios, like him not recognising Chris Bang or confusing the lines or, oh my god, spilling coffee on top of the scripts…

He sighed and put down his papers. How he really wanted that role. Theoretically he already got it, he signed the contract, but still, the first reading felt more important than any audition he had before. Jeongin took a look at his phone. It was late, he should sleep so that he would feel refreshed tomorrow. With another sigh the young man stood up and walked to his small kitchen with the intention to make himself a tea to calm his nerves. That again showed how nervous he was because Yang Jeongin _never_ drank tea. How did someone enjoy that plant water when there was something like coffee?

A ping coming from his phone pulled him out of his thoughts.

 **_HEHET DEVIL:_ ** _Hey, foxy, how’ you holdin’ up? Scared yet?_

Jeongin grinned at the message and began typing something back but then stopped and simply pushed the call button.

“Hellooo!” said a calm but playful voice. “Hey Yeosang-Hyung!” Jeongin replied and smiled. “Well, Innie, how is it going? Knowing you, you’ve already memorized the whole script even though it’s only a reading, didn’t you?” Yeosang replied smugly, but the affection could still be heard.

Jeongin laughed. “Um, not the whole script, Hyung. But… parts of it,” Jeongin answered before putting his phone on speaker so he could finish making his tea.

Yeosang sighed dramatically. “Who was the director again that you’re so nervous?” The young man threw the tea bag away and leaned against the counter. “Chris Bang,” he said in a dreamy voice, “ _the_ Chris Bang, the amazing director known for his impressive creations of ambiences and emotions. I always dreamed of acting in one of his works since I saw Hellevator and now, now, oh my god, it’s really happening, Yeosang-Hyung!” Feeling himself getting nervous again Jeongin grabbed his tea and took a big gulp before coughing, he forgot it was still hot.

“Wow, Innie, easy. Don’t kill yourself now or you will regret it,” Yeosang laughed and the younger one grumbled something incoherent. “Oh, and just act as adorable in love with Chris Bang as you are right now and he will have to be amazed by you, not like he could resist!”  
“Shut up, Yeosang! I’m not in love with him!” Jeongin protested, “He’s just so cool and I don’t wanna mess up.” His voice got quieter in the end and he heard Yeosang sigh.

“I know, Innie. But really, you have nothing to worry about besides not getting enough sleep if you continue procrastinating like this. We both know that you’re an amazing actor so stop pretending to be so humble and just go to sleep. I’ll have my phone with me tomorrow, so just call me when you feel the need to, alright?”

Jeongin smiled and nodded before realizing that Yeosang couldn’t see him. “Thank you Hyung, you can be a roasting meanie but it’s what I need I guess.” His Hyung laughed. “Well, you’re not much better yourself, but you’re welcome. And now hush hush, sleep foxy!” Jeongin laughed as well but bid Yeosang goodnight and hung up.

He grabbed his mug and walked to his small bedroom, trying to gather his thoughts. Jeongin was thankful to Yeosang. His Hyung always knew exactly what to say to help him or to cheer him up. He knew when Jeongin needed to hear sassy replies and when he needed a shoulder to cry on. Jeongin smiled while thinking about his Hyung and looked at the photo of them which was pinned to the wall above the headboard of his bed.

Jeongin had met Yeosang about 16 months ago while he had been on vacation in New Zealand. Back then he had been overly excited for his first big trip overseas. He had saved money since high school to able to fulfil his dream of visiting the island but hadn’t expected to befriend a young Korean male in that part of the world. However, one evening he had been sitting in a small pub slash restaurant (again overly excited to be sitting in a bar like a grown-up) when a young asian-looking male had walked in and taken the free spot next to Jeongin at the bar. The younger one had not been able to stop staring at the newcomer, he had the most handsome face Jeongin had ever seen, besides some of the actors he admired so much. The stranger had, of course, noticed his odd behaviour and shot him a kind smile before taking in his somehow out of place appearance. “First time abroad?” He had asked Jeongin in Korean and laughed at the surprised look on the younger’s face. “It’s the eyes,” he had explained, “they show me you’re Korean.” Jeongin had just nodded in amazement and the handsome stranger had introduced himself as Kang Yeosang and that he came to New Zealand about two months ago. The two of them had talked for hours that night and when Jeongin had gotten back to his shabby hotel in the morning he had a new number saved in his phone and now, 15 months later, a new person saved in his heart. In the beginning of their friendship Jeongin had been slightly on edge, Yeosang was too perfect to be true and he had felt himself crushing slightly on the elder. To his relief his small crush had dissolved pretty quickly and now he loved Yeosang like best friends love each other. Don’t get him wrong, Yeosang would be an amazing catch and Jeongin had found out after one evening of drunken confessions that Yeosang indeed liked boys as well as girls. However, he had also found out that Yeosang seemed still to be pining after a male from his past whose name remained unknown to Jeongin. He hadn’t asked once they were sober again, if Yeosang wanted to talk about it he would. His Hyung did talk to him about liking boys though, something Jeongin was profoundly grateful for. Yeosang helped Jeongin accept himself in a lot of ways; he was there whenever Jeongin cried about his parents and stood up to them for the younger a handful of times.

The young actor smiled to himself as he thought about the memories of them while he got ready for bed. He got under the covers, took the last sip of his tea and noticed delightedly that he felt much calmer now. The thought of the reading tomorrow didn’t scare him in the moment and quickly drifted from his mind as he realized how tired he was. After checking one more time that his alarms were set (he set three in case he missed one) and sending back a heart and ‘goodnight’ to Yeosang he curled up under his blankets and with a last thought of who may his co-actors be he fell asleep, drifting into dreamland.

A seemingly few seconds later Jeongin already woke up again, his phone blaring “Love Battery” into his ears. After a sigh and a silent complain about how he could sleep for another few hours, the young male shot of his alarm and one moment later he was wide awake. The day had come. Today would be the reading. In less than three hours he, Yang Jeongin, would start the road to his success, as an actor, _lead actor_ , in a Chris Bang drama. “Oh my god,” he exclaimed, his nerves slowly closing in on him, “oh my god, oh my god!” Continuing his nervous rambling he made his way to his bathroom to take a quick shower.

After merely 20 minutes Jeongin sat at his small kitchen counter, a freshly brewed coffee in front of him. This must be the fastest he ever got out of bed and ready for work, not counting his still messy hair. But that had to wait, Jeongin felt like he needed caffeine for future functioning first. A _lot_ of caffeine.

While he was trying to sort out his mind, his hands automatically grabbed the script for “Yellow Wood” which had been laying there since the last evening. Once again, he scanned over a few of his major scenes, trying to memorize as much as possible. To his disappointment Jeongin couldn’t concentrate at all as his eyes darted towards his phone every minute to check if he was running late yet. With a frustrated groan he put the script in his otherwise prepared bag, gulped down the last drops of his coffee and decided that it would be more productive to finish getting ready.

Fifteen minutes later the young male was tying his shoelaces after double-checking that he did pack everything he thought he would need. It was currently 7.15 am and since the first reading would take place in the KBS building in Yeongdeungpo-Gu at 9 am he had to travel for quite some time to get there. Jeongin nearly fainted at the thought of coming late so he decided to leave with 30 minutes to spare. As he stepped out into the rainy April Monday and walked towards the nearest bus station his brain started to think about the most interesting point of today’s reading: Who would be his co-actors? Jeongin knew quite a few suitable actors who would fit in the age range of being able to play a high school student. Since the main star of the drama, the high school student Yoo Hajoon, was a rich but polite and good-at-everything son of a CEO, Jeongin was sure that he would be played by a very handsome and sophisticated looking actor. And the female lead character, Park Jinae, a kind and bubbly girl, who would play her?

Jeongin spent the 30 minutes bus ride comparing different actors and actresses he knew. When his stop approached his nerves once again brought him out of his train of thoughts about how Jinae may be played by a kpop idol. With the feeling of his stomach cramping he exited the bus and noticed that at least the rain had stopped. He sighed relieved, now his hair would not look like he hadn’t fussed about making it look presentable before leaving.

Another 30 minutes later and a steaming coffee from the coffee shop a corner away in his hand Jeongin had arrived in front of the KBS building. He had exactly 25 minutes left and now awkwardly stood in front of the huge complex, not wanting to arrive too early. Another rain shower however forced him to enter the building. This was the second time that he had a reading in there. The first time he acted in a KBS children’s program as the happy virus “Smile”. It was a fun show and Jeongin loved the positive feedback from the children watching the program. However, he always cringed a bit when he saw some episodes of it. He much preferred his now upgraded role for the Chris Bang drama.

Jeongin walked towards the reception to get himself signed in and receive his staff identification card to be able to enter all restricted areas. The first time in KBS he was so confused and didn’t know what he had to do at all. Today Jeongin was glad that he knew how things worked in here, he was already nervous enough. An elevator then brought him up to the seventh floor where, according to the friendly receptionist, the reading would be.

She must have been right, since Jeongin now stood in front of the mentioned room and felt like fainting. “You can do this, Yang Jeongin!” the young actor mumbled and gripped the straps of his bag tightly, before stepping in.

The first person he saw was no other than Chris Bang himself. He stood next to a huge white board behind the big oval desk which nearly filled the whole room. The young man was pinning different papers on the board and was talking with another young male. Chris Bang appeared to be, like Jeongin already thought from the photos and interviews he saw of him, very friendly and very tired. His blonde curly hair looked like it had a mind on its own and his pale skin contrasted with his dark eyes and the visible eyebags underneath them. He was clad in a simple black attire and several necklaces dangled around his neck. The man next to him was the striking opposite. His elegantly styled hair was a light blue and he looked like he stepped out of a photo shoot for a fashion magazine. Jeongin could see a couple of piercings in his ears and his glittering eyes hinted on subtle make-up. From what Jeongin managed to catch from their conversation they were talking in English. As he took a step forward, he saw that there were quite a few other people already in the room. But before he could observe them in more detail, Chris Bang stopped his conversation with the other man and approached the newcomer.

“Hello! You must be Yang Jeongin, right?” the director asked Jeongin with a warm smile appearing on his face, his dimples showing. “Yeah, um, right. I’m Jeongin and, uh, it’s nice to meet you, Chris Bang! I heard a lot from you and I’m, uh, so excited to be working with you!” Jeongin stammered, trying to sound confident. He felt himself blushing and quickly bowed, hoping that the other wouldn’t notice. _Get yourself together, Jeongin._ He heard Chris release a soft chuckle. “The pleasure is all mine, Jeongin. You’re a great actor, I was completely mesmerized after watching ‘Dystopia’. I’m sure this will work out perfectly.” Jeongin flashed a smile back. His tension was slowly seeping away. This man was so friendly, he looked like he couldn’t hurt a fly.

“Of course, it will work out just fine!” said a really deep voice and the stylish young man Jeongin saw talking to Chris Bang earlier stepped towards them. “Hi, I’m Lee Felix, just call me Felix, or Lix, or Lixie or whatever you like, just not Yongbok. I’m the costume and make-up designer here and it will be my pleasure to make you look even more stunningly handsome than you already are. And don’t worry, Channie here may look like a vampire but he’s really more of a lamb, he’s a big old softie. I’m basically his younger brother so I would know best. Now, what did you do to your hair to make it look so shiny?” Jeongin’s eyes got larger during the young man’s speech. _Lee Felix_ didn’t seem to breath and Jeongin’s brain tried to comprehend what the man was telling him, his Australian accent and deep voice making it hard to focus on the actual words. Yongbok? Vampire? Lamb? Channie? And god, that man had the sexiest voice Jeongin had ever heard.

Confused he just stared at Felix who looked at him excitedly, apparently waiting for an answer. Though before he could try to reply Chris Bang started laughing and softly punched Felix on the shoulder. “Slow down, Lixie. You’re confusing the poor boy,” he said and then looked at Jeongin, “I’m Channie, if you’re curious. Chan is my Korean name, you can call me that if you like, so please drop the formalities. I’m just Hyung and not Chris Bang, that’s for official business. You will notice that we all are like a big family. Most of the staff already worked with me on other projects, so no need to be so formal.” He shot Jeongin a short wink, who thought that the first reading somehow did count as ‘official business’, but he kept quiet. “And Lixie here worked with me for a couple of years already, but we actually met in Australia back when we were kids. His Korean name is Yongbok, but don’t call him that unless you want to get hit. Now, those guys over there,” Chan pointed towards a couple of men sitting at one end of the desk, “they’re from the dramaturgy, sound and production department. They will overview the reading and take notes for the future progress and may suggest ideas or changes. And next to them you can see few of your co-actors.” The more Jeongin listened to Chan explaining things to him, the more he liked hearing him talk. His nervousness basically disappeared and the excitement came through. He was really going to do this! Felix noticed the change of his expression and smiled brightly. “Well, Innie – can I call you Innie? – let me introduce you to your co-actors, or the ones who have already arrived. Let’s see, alright, let’s start with the one you’ll be working the most with,” he grabbed the younger man’s arm to drag him along and shot Chan a look. “Didn’t you have to finish prepare something?” The director laughed. “Yes, yes, I’m already gone. You two have fun, don’t overwhelm him, Lix.” The blue-haired boy just grinned and pulled Jeongin away.

“You can call me Innie, if you want to,” Jeongin replied to his question from earlier. Felix let go of his arm to clap his hands together. “Thank god! So, again, what did you put in your hair? It looks so good!” His hand reached up to touch a lock of Jeongin’s black hair. “Uh, well, just some conditioner three times a week and some spray after it dried, I guess,” he said, somehow feeling embarrassed. Felix looked at him suspiciously. “I guess having great genes helps with it as well. Look at you, I’m jealous!” Jeongin could only stare at the other. Felix was jealous of _him_? Did he never look in the mirror and see how gorgeous he was? His hair looked soft and healthy, his big eyes sparkled with energy, he had a cute small nose, very pretty lips… Jeongin could see freckled covering his cheeks and nose bridge which made him look even more unreal combined with his sharp jawline and his incredibly deep voice. And that man was jealous of him? Felix caught him staring and Jeongin felt himself blush. “What’s going on in your head, Innie?” he asked curiously. “Well, just wondering why you would be jealous of me, um, when you’re, well, gorgeous…” The young actor replied shyly and saw Felix blushing in return. “Oh my god, that’s so sweet of you! Then let’s just go with ‘we’re both gorgeous’, alright?” They grinned at each other and laughed and then Felix pulled him over to a young woman sitting at the table, apparently reading the script.

As they got closer, Jeongin had to supress a gasp. It seemed like his idea of the female lead being played by an idol has been right. In front of him sat no one else than Red Velvet member Joy. Now, don’t get him wrong, it’s not like he was that kind of obsessed fan who wants to marry their idol, since he was as gay as a ruler was straight. He was, however, a big girl group fan and could dance six Red Velvet dances on spot if it would be asked of him.

“Hey, Sooyoung-Noona! I brought you your co-actor!” Felix said in the same excited voice Jeongin got to know him with and the beautiful woman looked at them. “Oh, hello! It’s nice to meet you, I’m Sooyoung, or Joy if you know me. But please just call me Sooyoung!” She told Jeongin and smiled the kind of smile Jeongin has seen in a lot of videos before. “Hello, uh, Sooyoung-Ssi, I’m Yang Jeongin. I’ll be playing Lee Youngsoo. The pleasure is all mine,” Jeongin replied breathlessly after bowing shortly and before he could stop himself- “I’m a huge fan! I’m so excited to be working with you!” Sooyoung and Felix laughed and Jeongin wanted to punch himself. God why was he so stupid! Felix seemed to notice his dilemma. “Don’t worry, Innie, I basically screamed when I saw her. I’m a big Reveluv as well, hehe!” He reassured the younger and Sooyoung was still laughing. “I’m glad that you are excited then! So am I, this drama sounds so interesting. When is our third part arriving?” She asked Felix. “Oh, you mean our Yoo Hajoon?” Felix asked and received a nod, “Well, he should be here any moment.”

“And here he is,” said Chan from behind them and they turned around to face him. The young director approached him with a young and tall man at his side. Jeongin had to blink a few times to convince himself that he wasn’t dreaming. Felix next to him let out a squeal. “Who is this handsome stranger, Channie?” he asked the other Aussie, who raised an eyebrow at him. “You know who he is just fine.” Felix laughed and walked over to the newcomer to pull him into a hug. “Yeah, you’re right! Everyone, that’s Hwang Hyunjin! He will be our Hajoon! I already had the pleasure to meet him in a previous meeting, but you two may know him from tv.” Indeed, it was Hwang Hyunjin. Jeongin felt himself blushing for another time this morning. He knew Hyunjin. Not personally but from all the dramas and movies the young male had acted in. He also saw his photos from photoshoots and magazines, the ads he starred in, he was following Hyunjin’s Instagram and watched a view of the tv shows he was a guest on. Why? Well, because Hwang fucking Hyunjin was the perfect definition of Jeongin’s idol type. And now, as the beautiful man stood in front of him, he was once again reminded why that was the case. Hwang Hyunjin was tall and slim but you could see that he worked out with one glance at his thighs and shoulders. His hair nearly reached his shoulders and was a goldish blonde with the front part drawn back to ponytail for convenience. He had the most beautiful and plump lips Jeongin had ever seen, and together with his eyes and nose he looked as uniquely pretty as he was handsome. Jeongin tried hard not to stare but that was a difficult task when the other actor looked like he stepped right of an anime. He was so beautiful that it was intimidating and Jeongin already knew that he would make a fool out of himself in the next weeks.

Hwang Hyunjin broke out into a smile at Felix’s enthusiasm and then looked at the two other actors. “Sooyoung-Noona! It’s nice to meet you again,” he said happily and the woman laughed. “Well, who would have thought, Hwang Hyunjin. I expected to see you at music bank in a week but now this is so much nicer.” Right, Jeongin thought. Hyunjin was moderating at music bank and Red Velvet had a few comeback stages of their latest release left. “And you must be Jeongin then?” Hyunjin asked him with a curious look on his face that reminded Jeongin of a puppy discovering the world. _Fuck, wasn’t being so handsome and elegant enough? Why did he have to look so adorable too?_  
“Yeah, Hyunjin-Ssi, I’m Jeongin. It’s really nice to meet you and work with you. Please take care of me,” Jeongin replied, giving him a small bow as well. He got a wide smile in return, “Aw, you’re adorable, Jeongin. I’m also excited to work with you. When I stepped in the room and saw you, I thought ‘wait isn’t that Kwang Minsoo from Dystopia’ and yes, you are! I loved you acting in that thriller, it was spectacular!” Jeongin felt himself blushing even more and he quickly looked at the floor, not knowing what to say. Why was he such a mess today? Usually Jeongin was confident and communicative but now all those handsome men turned him into a stuttering and blushing mess. Well, talk about gay panic…

“Jinnie, I think you broke him,” Felix commented in an amused voice and Sooyoung laughed in agreement. “Um, well, no, I just…could say the same to you, Hyunjin-Ssi. I always wanted to act with you in the same project one time,” the young actor explained to the elder. Hyunjin nodded in understanding and stepped closer to be able to put a hand on Jeongin’s shoulder. “Well, then I’m sure we will become close friends fast. Can I be your friend, Jeongin?” How could someone ever resist Hwang Hyunjin wanting to be friends with them? Of course, Jeongin wanted to be his friends so he looked at him and flashed a cheeky smile. “Let me think about it Hyunjin-Shi…yeah, I think we can be friends.” Everyone laughed and Hyunjin threw a soft punch against his shoulder. “I already really like you, Innie – can I call you Innie? Oh and, just call me Hyung, alright?”  
The more Hyunjin talked, the more he remined Jeongin of the young Aussie standing beside him, clutching the actor’s arm between his hands and still grinning at everyone present. “Yeah you call me Innie, Hyunjin-Ssi, uh, Hyung, I mean.”

“Great, now that that’s settled. How about we take some nice photos for the news tomorrow?” An unfamiliar voice from the door asked them. Their little group all turned around and Jeongin’s sight fell on another – god, someone save him – handsome young man standing there, a big bag thrown over his shoulder and another one sitting on the floor next to him. “It’s great to meet all of you. My name is Lee Minho and I work for SBS, so my job is it to make your potential future viewers get excited by looking at all the outstanding snapshots of today’s reading, which I’m going to take. So just don’t mind me, I’ll be basically invisible.” It was quite for a few seconds as everyone took in the newcomer’s appearance. His hair was bright but elegant red and he had sharp feline like features and very pretty eyes. He looked like he owned the building with the confident aura he gave of.

Chan was the one to approach the new man. “Ah yes, Minho-Ssi, we talked on the phone. I’m Chris Bang, it’s nice to meet you. I fully trust you to take photos which will make the viewers not be able to wait for the actual drama.” He smiled his dimpled smile at Minho who winked back at him. “Don’t you worry about that, darling. You will want me to lead your interviews soon enough as well. Just don’t let KBS know that you prefer an SBS journalist over their own.” The two of laughed and shook hands in a business-like fashion and then the door opened again and another man stepped into the room.

He wasn’t young and stunning like the ones Jeongin had met so far, but he was certainly not unattractive either. Jeongin guessed that he was in his mid-forties and whoever he was, he had money. A lot of money, assuming from the expensive suit, the pair of elegant glasses sitting on his nose and the Rolex glimmering on his wrist. “Ahn Kanghoon-Ssi, I’m delighted that you could find the time today,” Chan then said and slightly bowed to the stranger before smiling at him. The man, Ahn Kanghoon, smiled something back that could only be described as a practiced business smile and looked around the room. “The pleasure is all mine, Chris Bang. It’s been a long time since we last met, I assume you’re doing alright?” Chan nodded at him, “Yes, I’m doing fine, thank you. How about you Ahn-Ssi?” Jeongin was still confused. He wanted to know who that man was. He didn’t look like someone who would be interested in dramas. “Same old, same old. But that’s what I’m here for now, isn’t that right? To help you produce this brilliant drama you came up with. I can already smell our success!” After those words Ahn laughed and held his hand out for Chan to shake, who took it and grinned at the elder male. Then he turned back to the group of people in the room. “Great, so now that we are complete. How about we start that reading? It’s going to be a long day and I want everyone to be home before eight pm.” Everyone murmured agreements and they all settled down at the big desk. Hyunjin pulled Jeongin to sit next to him with Sooyoung on the blonde actor’s other side and Felix settled down beside him as well. Only Minho was still standing and unpacking his camera equipment.

“Now, since everyone was scattered around till now, how about we start with a short introduction? So that we all have names to put to the hot faces in this room,” Chan suggested and everyone chuckled. He clapped his hands together and look at them with a smile, “So, I am Chris Bang – but you already know that, at least I hope so – anyways, you may call me that or Chan, whatever you prefer. I’m 24 years old and the director, executive producer and screenwriter of ‘Yellow Wood’. In short, all the story and the creative ideas come from me, so I’ll be the one answering your questions about the scenes today. I look forward to be working together with all of you, I have the feeling that this is going to be a huge success!”

Jeongin could feel excitement bubbling in his stomach. He really wanted the drama to be a success and just like Chan, he felt like it could be after not only having met said man and Felix, but Sooyoung and Hyunjin as well.

“Hello, everyone, it’s nice to meet you,” Ahn Kanghoon said, “My name is Ahn Kanghoon and I will be the producer for this project we’re working on now. That means anything related to finances, public affairs, advertisement and managing those things in regard to the creative progress is my job. So, don’t worry, you’re in good hands. There will be no bad surprises or anything that could hinder the release of Yellow Wood.” The man looked around the room with an important smile. Jeongin wasn’t surprised to find out that Ahn was their producer. He already looked like he knew how to handle money and so the young actor fully believed that there would not be any problems regarding that matter. That did not mean that his first impression of Ahn was a good one though. He radiated self-assured power and that was enough for Jeongin to make him slightly dislike the man.

The next people who introduced themselves were all members from the creative team of the dramaturgy, sound and production departments, as Chan had explained earlier. Three men and two women who all looked eager to work with them and put Jeongin at ease. Clearly, Chan had picked himself a talented team of creative minds to make sure all potentials would be reached. The next ten people to introduce themselves all turned out to be fellow actors who would portray the major supporting roles such as the main characters’ parents, classmates and teachers. A few of them were familiar to Jeongin, considering big names like Jung Ingi, Uhm Hyosup or Kim Yeojin and some seemed to not have had a chance to land a hit and were hoping to have their chance now, just like Jeongin. As the creative team had been, all of the actors seemed fairly excited to be working on Yellow Wood and with Chris Bang himself: “How could I not have said yes after reading this intriguing script,” Jung Ingi said. Chan smiled gratefully, Jeongin thought he was practically beaming and it was infectious. He could not stop smiling.

The last row to introduce themselves where the people the young actor got to know already and as Hyunjin talked about himself Jeongin found himself staring. He quickly averted his gaze, hoping he hasn’t been caught but internally sighing as his eyes met with Lee Minho’s, who just shot him a smirk. Jeongin looked away but felt the other’s eyes on him and he knew that the man had figured him out. He gritted his teeth, praying that the journalist would just forget about it.

“Jeongin?” Hyunjin’s voice brought him back to the meeting and he felt his cheeks getting red as he noticed all eyes on him. It looked like just missed his cue to start his own introduction. “Uh, I’m so sorry,” he apologized and quickly added a few sentences about himself. He let himself relax again when Felix started talking.

“Great, now that we at least know who we’re all working with, let’s just jump right into it. I get the feeling I’m not the only one who can’t wait,” Chan exclaimed excitedly and everyone seemed to enter a new state of determined but enthusiastic concentration. “So, let’s jump right into scene eleven and the first proper meeting of our main characters. And action!”

And with that sentence Jeongin felt like he entered a new world for the next couple of hours. A world where he felt comfortable, like he was doing something that was as right and normal as brushing his teeth. A world where he felt like belonged. And when Hyunjin and Chan smiled at him happily after he recited one of his lines and Felix clapped him on the back proudly, Jeongin just knew that ‘Yellow Wood’ was going to be the adventure of his life.


	3. GO LIVE

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey!  
> Sorry for the long wait ehe. The weeks have been quite rough for me mentally^^  
> However, now I'm back with the next chapter! Wohooooo  
> Things begin to get a bit more interesting now. 
> 
> Have fun!

Kang Yeosang - Jeongin's best friend

“Innie, stop moving please!” Felix complained with furrowed brows and a make-up brush in his hands. He had been trying to apply eye shadow on Jeongin for the past minutes which turned out more difficult than expected. The young actor had found out that he was extremely ticklish towards the soft brushes and couldn’t stop blinking. Or maybe it just was his nerves and the excitement building up inside of him that made him feel restless. In one hour, he would attend his first press conference. There would be reporters, photographers, fans – a lot of people to sum it up. It seemed like half Seoul had arrived in front of the KBS building as Hyunjin had stated after taking a peek out of the window. Jeongin knew that most of them wanted to see his famous co-actors and Chan of course, not him, but he was fine with it. He hoped that after this day people would get more interested in him, asking questions like ‘who is that young handsome boy next to Hyunjin?’. Instead of being sad about his small fanbase in contrast to Joy’s or Hyunjin’s he was confident to gain more popularity in the upcoming weeks.

And that’s why he tried to relax his eyelids and hold them still for Felix to apply the colours. The young Aussie had promised him that he would look spectacular once he was done with him. “They are gonna faint when they see you!” Chan suddenly said, grinning at their maknae. Jeongin grinned back, “But Hyung, you should do something against those eyebags or people are gonna faint too.” The director gasped in pretended offense. “I guess you’re right about that, you little brat,” he laughed and reached out a hand to ruffle Jeongin’s hair. “Don’t!” Screamed Felix and grabbed Chan’s wrist tightly to stop him from messing up the elegantly styled locks. “Oh, sorry Lix!” The freckled boy shook his head. “You always wanna ruin my work, now, shush, let me do my job!” He let go of the elder’s hand and waved him away. Chan laughed but followed his request.

Two weeks had passed since he first stumbled into the meeting room with a nervous heart and a blushing head. Now he felt like he had known his crew for ages. Chris Bang, whom he had so much respect of and who seemed like a greater being, had become his elder brother and Jeongin found out he was human as well. The actor had dropped his walls so fast, the other boys thought he was a different person. Gone was the shy and blushing boy and arrived had the sassy and confident young man.

“Okay, all done,” Felix announced after covering Jeongin’s face in fixing spray and leaned back to look at his work. “Innie, you’re so hot.” The young actor blushed but grinned at the other boy and then looked to the side to see his reflection in the mirror. “Wow, Felix!” Jeongin exclaimed, “Are you a fairy doing his fairy magic? I look much more mature, it’s great!” The freckled boy laughed. “I can be your fairy if you want me to,” he joked and wiggled his eyebrows. Jeongin couldn’t stop staring at himself in the mirror; the eyeshadow gave his eyes more depth and the eyeliner made them pop and contrasted nicely against his skin. Felix chose a light and natural looking pink for his lips, his eye lashes looked longer than usual thanks to the mascara in them and the contouring made his jawline look even sharper than it already was. Jeongin didn’t look like the young, barely adult he was, but like a fierce, serious and hot man. He felt his confidence sky rocking.

Jeongin turned his head back to shoot Felix a wide smile. “Thank you so much, Hyung! I feel so confident and I love it!” The freckled boy grinned, his eyes sparkling and a soft blush on his cheeks. “Thank you, Innie. I’m so happy you like it. Oh and by the way…,” Felix’s smile turned into a smug grin. “Hyunjin can’t stop staring at you, just so you know.” Jeongin’s eyes widened and his head whipped around to catch the other actor looking at him intensely. They just stared at each other for a moment before Hyunjin grinned, seemingly embarrassed about getting caught, before sending Jeongin a thumbs up. The younger boy felt his smile getting wider and Felix chuckled at his reaction. “You’re so whipped, Jeongin,” he exclaimed and Jeongin started coughing. “Hyung,” he whined, “I’m not whipped, I’m just, just…” “Whipped,” Felix repeated and boxed his shoulder softly. “No need to be shy about falling for Jinnie, okay?” Jeongin sighed in defeat. “I’m scared, Hyung. I don’t wanna like him like _that_.”

It was true, in the fourteen days that Jeongin and Hyunjin got to know each other the younger actor felt himself crushing harder on Hyunjin with every new day. It was impossible to not like Hwang Hyunjin, he was one of the kindest and purest people Jeongin ever met, besides Felix maybe. Hyunjin was bright, loud and dramatic, he fell for every prank and he loved rambling about stuff and asking questions about Jeongin. In that way Hyunjin was similar to Felix and so it was no surprise to anyone that the two of them were practically inseparable. Chan joked that they seemed like long lost twins.

So far, Jeongin had figured out that Hyunjin loved dogs and had one himself; he lived for americano; he was a big anime and drama fan and idolized Park Jinyoung for his acting. When he found out that Jeongin and Jinyoung were in the same company and knew each other he dramatically begged the younger boy to introduce him one day. Jeongin had just nodded at everything, not wanting to make the other man sad.

It was endearing to see how Hyunjin’s face lit up when he talked about his interests. His voice got louder and his gestures bigger and Jeongin felt his heart pounding in his chest. While Jeongin knew that he was falling for Hyunjin, he wasn’t sure what the other saw in him. Sure, he always asked him questions and listened to him, his head propped up on his hand and a happy look in his eyes. He always made sure that Jeongin was fine and demanded hugs at least five times a day. That was another thing he had in common with Felix. They both were clingy and were found cuddling with someone more often than they weren’t. Usually they would go to Chan or Jeongin or stick together and it honestly was the cutest thing Jeongin had seen. But even though Hyunjin gave him a lot attention and seemed to care about him, Jeongin wasn’t sure what to make of it because then again, the elder actor was like that with all crew members – minus the skinship and huge amount of attention seeking maybe.

“Innie, why don’t you wanna like him? What’s wrong with that?” Felix asked him softly, worry showing on his face. “I’m scared he won’t feel the same way, so I gotta stop before it’s too late, I guess…and even if he did, he’s a nationwide famous actor,” Jeongin exclaimed and looked at the freckled boy uncomfortably. Felix frowned and opened his mouth to reply something but he cut him off. “I don’t wanna talk about it, please, Hyung?” Pleadingly he looked at the other man who mustered him for a few seconds before sighing. “Alright, Innie, but if you ever need someone to talk, I’m always here to listen okay?” Jeongin nodded before standing up from his seat next to the mirror.

“I’ve hung up your outfit in the changing room; it has you’re name on it so you should be able to find it!” Felix’s voice turned back to cheerful as he gestured towards the room on his right. “If something’s wrong just call for me.”

Once again Jeongin nodded and then trotted away to get dressed in his outfit for the event. He passed by Hyunjin who smiled at him with a soft blush on his cheeks, apparently still embarrassed about checking him out earlier. “You look great, Innie,” Hyunjin declared before hurrying over to Felix as it was his turn to get prepped up. With a sigh and a pounding heart Jeongin entered the changing room and tried to focus all his attention on his clothes instead on the way his skin was tingling. 

-<-<\---…--->->-

“And now, let’s finally welcome the mastermind behind ‘Yellow Wood’, our director and screen-writer Chris Bang!” The crowd screamed and applauded at the words of the mc, the cameras flashing endlessly and Jeongin grinned and clapped along his fellow actors as Chan stepped onto the podium and joined them, a bright smile on his face. He looked as happy to be there as Jeongin was feeling and ecstatically shook the hand of the mc standing next to him.

When the event started, Jeongin had been incredibly nervous. They had started with announcing Hyunjin and Joy and the moment those two had walked up on stage Jeongin had felt like drowning in the excited screams of the huge crowd. By the time his name had been called he had started feeling nauseous and if Chan hadn’t been giving him a gentle push, he would not have made it on the podium. However, he hadn’t been able stop the wide smile appearing on his face when he had heard the screams and applauds, surprised that they had been nearly as loud as the ones Hyunjin and Joy received.

Now, after all actors and Chan had been called up, Jeongin was slowly relaxing and he felt happier with every passing second. His eyes were already hurting due to the cameras flashing, but it was a pain he figured he didn’t mind.

“So, Mr Bang, it’s an honour to have you here in Korea. How does it feel to be back and create your first Korean drama?” The mc asked after the crowd had died down slowly. “I feel ecstatic. It’s like I’m coming home and I can’t help but say that I’m confident about Yellow Wood becoming a nationwide sensation,” Chan answered and grinned at the fans. “Those are confident words. What makes you feel that way?”

Chan looked at the actors and Jeongin saw his smile becoming gentle. “Well, because I have an amazing team of actors and a talented crew working backstage. I trust them with this drama and they already are like family to me.” At those words, the crowd was applauding again.

“If I’m right you handpicked them yourselves, your actors, I mean. What made you chose our main cast?” The mc asked curiously and gestured towards Hyunjin, Joy and Jeongin.

Chan laughed. “Yes, that’s true I did.” He walked towards the three of them. “Well, I chose Hyunjin here because I’ve seen his work and always thought that he was a great actor. You could say I’m a fan. He can bring so many different personalities and characters to life, it’s really impressive. However, what convinced me most was the fact that his natural personality really suited the character of Yoo Hajoon I had created in my mind. And I still feel the same way, there is no better person for the job.” Chan finished speaking and gently grinned at Hyunjin, who shyly rubbed his neck.

“Those are high words of praise! Now we are even more excited for the first episode to come out, no?” The mc asked the crowd which cheered in agreement. In his head Jeongin was cheering too; he agreed with every word Chan had said. Hyunjin was indeed perfect for the role, well, he was perfect in general. Even the way he stood there next to Jeongin, a slight blush decorating his face, smiling happily at the crow, his long blond hair moving softly in slight breeze…Jeongin tried hard to not stare at him.

He was brought out of his thoughts at the loud laugh of the mc, apparently because of something Chan had said. “I’m sure we can all agree that Miss Sooyoung has a beautiful voice,” he said and the crowd was fast to agree. Jeongin guessed that they had talked about the song Joy would be singing for the OST.

“And now how about our third star? What made you pick Yang Jeongin?” Jeongin looked at Chan nervously who just smiled and walked towards him to place a hand on his back. “Honestly when I created the final draft of the drama, I already knew that I wanted Hyunjin and Sooyoung as my two main leads but for the third one I had no idea. All the actors I thought of just somehow didn’t fit and I was slowly getting frustrated. After I arrived in Korea a month before the first reading was supposed to happen I had still no Lee Youngsoo. The same evening, I was sitting on the couch of my apartment in Seoul and turned on the tv to just find something to relax me. I came across a movie, that really intrigued me. It seemed mysterious and serious and that’s how I found our Jeongin here. He appeared a few minutes after I decided to watch the rest of the movie and he caught my eye immediately. I was extremely impressed with the way he managed to convey emotions simply through his eyes, actually, I still am. He suited the image and aura I had of Lee Youngsoo perfectly so I searched for his work and interviews and so on and one hour later I knew that I found my third actor.” 

Chan rubbed Jeongin’s shoulder and smiled at him affectionately and the crowd cheered at his words. Jeongin grinned happily and shyly, Chan praising him in front of so many people was a bit embarrassing. He could see Hyunjin and Joy smiling at him and the fans shouting that they agreed with Chan’s words.

“You sound like a big brother, Mr Bang,” the mc joked in a friendly way, “I personally want to see your acting in ‘Yellow Wood’ the most, Mr Yang. We haven’t seen you in such a big role till now and I’m excited to witness that change.” Again, the crowd agreed loudly and Jeongin could hear a few screams about the lines of ‘I’ve been his biggest fan since his debut’ or ‘Jeongin, let’s only walk the flower road from now on’ and his smile brightened.

Just like everyone else, he couldn’t wait for the first episode to be released. In the past week they had finally started the shooting and were nearly done with all the material for the first three episodes. Jeongin felt tired, the mix of day and night shoots messed up his sleep schedule, but he was so happy and excited that it didn’t bother him at all. They only had to shoot the scene of the first meeting of the three main characters on Monday, in two days, and then episode one would be finished and could go into editing. It was scheduled to be released in two weeks. By then the plan was to have finished shooting until episode five, so that they had enough of spare time to not having to rush anything if something went wrong.

The rest of the press conference went by smoothly. They answered a couple of questions from the mc and the reporters and did short impressions of their roles so that the public could get a taste of what was awaiting them. After 90 minutes they were nearly finished and the only thing left to do was pose for the cameras. Jeongin already discovered that Lee Minho, the reporter from their first reading, was present as well as he had asked a question himself. Now the young man was continuously clicking on his camera, trying to take as many photos as possible.

Another twenty minutes later Jeongin gave the crowd a last wave and exited the podium after Chan, making his way back inside the KBS building. They hurried back to the waiting room and were welcomed with the staff cheering and clapping and Felix stood there with a huge smile on his face. “Congratulations!” He shouted and rushed over to hug all of them tightly. “You did so well, the people loved it and I must say I did a great job; you all looked stunning. I’m so excited for the first episode, oh my god!” Jeongin laughed at Felix rambled on and he hugged him back tightly. “Thank you, Hyung. Yes, you did a great job!” Joy laughed in agreement and ruffled the freckled boy’s hair who beamed at the praise.

“Well, everyone,” Chan started, “that was a huge success! I’m betting we’ll already make headlines with today’s event!” Everyone cheered. “Now, as a thank you, I ordered chicken and beer and jajangmyeon for everyone before the conference started, it should arrive every minute.” The cheering got louder and Chan grinned at them. Jeongin’s stomach began to grumble at his hyung’s words and he realized how hungry he was.

“Hungry? Hyunjin asked him and Jeongin nodded. “Yeah, I was so nervous this morning that I didn’t really eat something,” he replied and looked at the other boy. “Yeah, same. I always get nervous before these events. But we nailed it!” They both laughed and Jeongin felt the butterflies returning at the sound of Hyunjin’s giggles. He tried to ignore them. Felix joined them and hugged Hyunjin from the side. “You really did! Oh and Jeongin…” he smiled at the youngest man and paused dramatically. “Look who’s here!” He gestured towards the side and Jeongin turned around to see who he was talking about.

Yeosang was walking towards him with a confident grin plastered on his face and Jeongin’s eyes widened. “Hyung!” He shouted surprised and Yeosang winked and stopped in front of him. “Missed me?” He asked jokingly and then pulled Jeongin in a long hug.

“Of course, I did, Hyung. I haven’t seen you for three weeks!” He exclaimed loudly and Yeosang sighed dramatically. “Yes, I know that my best friend didn’t seem to care much about me in past weeks.” Felix and Hyunjin laughed at Jeongin’s annoyed expression.

“Very funny. Who’s the Hyung again, Yeosangie?” Yeosang glared at him and pouted. “Innie!” He whined and Jeongin dropped his annoyed façade and grinned. “I’m sorry, Hyung, but I was so busy with all the shoots and meetings and practising my lines and-“

“I know, Innie, it’s alright. You remembered to send me a good night kiss via text, that’s all that matters.” They both laughed and now Hyunjin looked confused. “Wait, are you dating?” Jeongin’s smiled dropped as fast as it had showed on his face earlier and he gasped, heating up. He somehow felt embarrassed about Hyunjin thinking that he was dating a boy and his heart pounded while he was waiting for a disgusted remark from the elder. But none came and he looked at the boy to find him eyeing him with a curious look on his face. There was no sign of disgust or anger.

“Since Innie somehow forgot that he can speak; no, we’re not dating, ew. Don’t get me wrong Innie, you’re a great guy, but no. We’re best friends,” Yeosang answered with a mix of disgust at the possibility and amusement at Jeongin’s reaction. Felix giggled and wiggled his brows at the youngest actor. That’s what got Jeongin out of his trance and he glared at the two of them before smiling at Hyunjin. “Yeah, Yeosang is right, we’re best friends and he was simply mocking me.”

Hyunjin let out a sound of understanding and shrugged embarrassedly. Now Felix wiggled his eyebrows at the handsome actor and he and Yeosang broke out into laughter.

“What’s all this about?” Chan joined their little group and looked at them confused. “Oh, nothing much, just Jinnie making sure to know if Jeongin is dating Yeosang-Ssi here, which he’s not by the way,” Felix explained, still giggling. Chan raised his eyebrows but grinned.

“Hello, Yeosang-Ssi, we haven’t met, I think. I’m Chris Bang, but just call me Chan.” He held out his hand and Yeosang shook it. “Nice to meet you, Chan-Ssi. I’m Yeosang, Innie’s best friend, sorry for intruding the party.” The smiled at each other. “Ah, don’t worry, you’re not intruding. Every friend of Innie, is a friend of mine.”

Felix rolled his eyes. “Channie-Hyung, no matter how hard you try to be a smooth gentleman, you’re still a kangaroo…” Hyunjin and Jeongin laughed and Chan gasped in mock offense. “Yah, Lee Felix, how dare you!” He grabbed the other Aussie and pulled him in a headlock with one arm before starting to tickle his sides. Felix started laughing, “No, please, Chris, stop!”

The other three laughed at the sight of the two of them fooling around. They really looked like brothers; it was endearing to watch. “I guess you fit right in,” Yeosang exclaimed after things calmed down a bit and Jeongin shot him a cheeky grin. “Yeah, you’re right. They’re just as crazy as you are.”

“Well, crazy is always good, normal is boring,” Felix stated and shrugged. They all agreed and Yeosang put an arm around Jeongin. “Well, then I’m relieved to leave Innie here in your care.” Jeongin groaned. “Hyung, I’m not a baby. I can take care of myself!” Yeosang looked at him unimpressed and then pinched his cheek. “Aigoo, is my baby feeling like being a grumpy boy?” The others laughed and Jeongin felt his face heating up. “Hyung, stop embarrassing me!” He whined and punched Yeosang’s shoulder. His Hyung wanted to say something but in that moment a phone was ringing.

“Oh, sorry, that’s my phone,” Hyunjin said, “I can just shut it off, it shouldn’t be that impor-“ He stopped talking and frown appeared on his face as he eyed his phone before looking at their small group. “Excuse me, I’ll have to take this.” After those words he hurriedly answered the phone and turned around to walk away before stopping again. “I’ll be back in minute,” Hyunjin reassured them, “yeah, Seonghwa-Hyung, I’m here. Sorry, for not seeing your messages. What is it?”

Jeongin looked at him as he walked away, talking to whoever ‘Seonghwa-Hyung’ was. Felix seemed nervous. “Is he alright?” He asked Chan who ruffled his hair. “I’m sure, Lixie, relax. Maybe it’s just about something important Hyunjin forgot to remember.”

“Do you know who he’s talking to?” Jeongin asked before he could stop himself. “Well, um, I think it’s one of his best friends. I know that he called him before,” Chan shrugged, “Just ask him later, I guess.” The nervousness in the young actor’s stomach seemed to go away a little bit.

_So, it wasn’t his boyfriend._

Jeongin shook his head to stop thinking about it and looked up, catching Yeosang’s gaze which seemed to read his mind. He adverted his gaze embarrassedly and smiled at Chan. “I guess I will.”

They continued talking like this for another ten minutes or so. Chan and Felix got excited when they found out that Yeosang and Jeongin met on New Zealand. “You have to come to Australia one day!” Felix demanded. “We’ll show you around!” They laughed and promised that they would do that when they had the time and money. 

“Hungry?” A female voice then asked and they looked at Joy who held a box of chicken towards them. “Oh, the food arrived?” Chan asked surprised. “Yeah, it did. You were just all so caught up in your conversation that you didn’t notice,” Joy explained amusedly. “Now come on, everyone is waiting to make a toast!” She gestured towards the tables pushed to one wall of the room, now covered in boxes of food and cans of beer and the crew standing close to it with beer in their hands. The four men grinned at her and then hurried to grab a can themselves to not leave the other people in the room waiting.

Chan smiled at all the actors and staff apologetically and raised his can. “Thank you everyone. This will be a great success, I’m sure of it. To Yellow Wood!”

“To Yellow Wood!” Everyone cheered and Jeongin took a big gulp of his beer, enjoying the cold feeling. Just as he was about to bite into the delicious piece of chicken in his hand he stopped and looked around the room before frowning.

Hyunjin was still not back.


	4. Wave

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone.  
> Believe it or not I finally finished another chapter. It's been so long oh my god...
> 
> To make up for it...enjoy this long ass chapter^^

Seonghwa

When Jeongin arrived at home it was already past two am. The small after party with the Yellow Wood Crew had lasted a few hours which resulted in him having to rush changing into a different attire to meet his manager and boss in the fancy restaurant the latter had reserved a table at.

He had nearly forgotten about the dinner if YoungK wouldn’t have reminded him. He had slapped himself at the thought of missing the dinner with his boss and CEO, when said man had arranged the whole event just because Jeongin got the part in Yellow Wood.

When he had arrived at the restaurant he was feeling slightly stressed but the moment he saw YoungK approaching him with wide confident strides, dressed as glamorously as always, he had felt the tension seeping away and relief filling his chest.

Don’t get him wrong, JYP, Park Jinyoung, was a strict and demanding but kind and genuine man. For a CEO of one of the biggest acting agencies in South Korea he was a fairly humble person. Jeongin thought he could have it worse, but YoungK always managed to make him feel even more comfortable.

The next two hours had been more relaxing than Jeongin had expected them to be. Park Jinyoung had asked him a lot of questions about Yellow Wood; he had seemed delighted to hear that he was working along Hwang Hyunjin. After the business talk, they had focused more on topics such as YoungK’s love for fashion, the CEO’s kids, and so on…

Even with considering how nice and exciting his day had been, Jeongin couldn’t help the relieved grown from escaping his lips as he collapsed on his bed, now barefaced and stripped down to his underwear. He didn’t plan on moving anymore for the next day; how delighted he felt at the thought of having the Sunday off.

After letting out a yawn he lazily reached for his phone laying his nightstand. A smile appeared on his face after seeing a message from Yeosang asking if he had arrived at home safely. He typed a quick reply before changing to social media. The official page of Yellow Wood had posted about the press conference and uploaded a couple of photos. Jeongin was in awe once again; Felix really was a master in his profession. He couldn’t remember a moment in which he would think of himself as handsome as he did when looking at the uploaded photos.

Jeongin clicked on a particular nice shot of him waving at the crowd and felt himself smiling brighter as he scrolled through the comment section. There were a lot of people asking who he was and in most of these instances his fans had replied and told people about him. He proceeded to like the comments of a few dedicated fansites of him to let them know how grateful he was. A bit of more scrolling and he came across comments from Felix and Chan. He giggled to himself as he typed a reply to Felix’s comment of how ‘hot this man is’ before taking a look at the other photos posted.

He stopped and found himself staring at the photo of a very beautiful and very happy looking Hyunjin. His blonde hair seemed to glow golden and gently framed his face; his lips were painted a soft pink and his eyes looked like they were staring right into his soul. Jeongin gulped. No matter how often he saw the older man, he felt his heart flutter every time.

Jeongin blinked a couple of times to stop zoning out. As he looked at the other photos of Hyunjin he suddenly remembered how the man had simply disappeared after answering that phone call. A frown made its way on his face. He was worried. Hyunjin had seemed so surprised after looking at his phone - and even more surprised at getting a call - and then he had answered it in a hurry. Jeongin could still hear Hyunjin’s voice in his head. He had sounded different: worried and concerned.

What if something had happened? Who was that Seonghwa guy anyways and why did his call cause the usual bright and carefree Hyunjin to frown so deeply?

A sigh escaped Jeongin and he shook his head. He should stop thinking about Hyunjin. It was probably nothing and he just sat here, working himself up about it, as if the two of them didn’t just knew each other for a few weeks.

But maybe he could just message the elder… and ask him if he had arrived home and tell him that he missed him at the after party? Surely, that would be alright... they were friends after all.

“Fuck it,” Jeongin mumbled to himself, quickly pulled up his chat with Hyunjin and typed a short message. He gulped and pressed _send_ , before letting his phone drop next to him on the bed. Most likely, Hyunjin wouldn’t even see his message until a few hours later. He was probably sleeping.

With another sigh Jeongin crawled under his blankets and put his phone back on the nightstand. He could worry about Hyunjin after getting some sleep, he decided, and turned off the lights, falling into a deep slumber soon after. Being an actor surely was exhausting.

When Jeongin woke up again it was already three in the afternoon. He had slept like a baby and a content yawn escaped his lips. There was no way he would move for anything other than food or going to the bathroom. Absentmindedly, he reached for his phone but felt further awake immediately after seeing that Hyunjin had replied to his messages:

**Prince Jinnie:**

_Morning, Innie^^_   
_It’s sweet that you missed me yesterday, hehe._

_But don’t worry, there was just something important I had to take care of. I’m fine, more than fine, actually… considering you thought of me! XD_

A stupidly happy smile made its way on Jeongin’s face and he felt himself blushing. He had already gotten used to Hyunjin’s antics, but he still couldn’t stop himself from giggling at the other’s flirty nature.

**InnieFox:**

_Morning, Hyung…uhh, Afternoon, I mean^^_

_I’m glad you’re fine then. You seemed a bit stressed yesterday_

_If there is, well, anything I can help you with justhit me up, you know…_

The answer came almost immediately.

**Prince Jinnie:**

_You just woke up?? I’m glad you got enough rest then hehe_

_Thank you, Innie…but I promise you I’m fine. The issue’s solved so don’t worry your little head about it._

_I’ll keep your offer in mind though!_

_So, what are you doing today?_

**InnieFox:**

_Oh, Hyung, I didn’t expect you to reply so fast ehe_

_Okay, you promised then…^^-^^_

_I’m not planning on moving anywhere. I’m so tiiiiireeeed z°_z°_

**Prince Jinnie:**

_Yeah, well, I’m just chilling on the couch, scrolling through my phone, so I saw your message._

_I get that, I’m tired too zzzz Acting is exhausting…_

_But it’s fun! And we’ll finish the filming for ep 1 tomorrow, I’m excited for that._

**InnieFox:**

_Honestly, I’m nervous, Hyung. What if the viewers won’t like my acting?_

Jeongin hesitated before sending his reply. Would he bother the other by whining about his fears? It was something that had bothered him for a few days now. The public was so excited for the drama but what if Jeongin can’t live up to their expectations?

With a grown he pressed _send_. It was Hyunjin after all; did he really think that the other would react badly?

**Prince Jinnie:**

_Aww, Innie. Don’t think that. You’re doing perfectly fine. Every day, all over again, you amaze everyone with your acting skills._

_Have more confidence in yourself!_

**InnieFox:**

_I don’t know, Hyung. It’s just…this is the most important role I’ve ever had. I’m just really nervous of screwing it up._

**Prince Jinnie:**

_I understand that. I was so nervous when I had my first major acting role…but in the end everything turned out fine and all my worries were proved to be groundless. ;-)_

_So, don’t overthink it, as hard as that is._

**InnieFox:**

_Yeah…you’re right, Hyung... You have to tell me about your acting journey one day!_

_I guess I’ll just try to distract myself for now^^_

**Prince Jinnie:**

_If I could, I would call you right now and tell you about it…but I guess we’ll have to do that another time then. ^_^_

**InnieFox:**

_Aren’t you chilling in your living room? You can call me if you like…_

**Prince Jinnie:**

_Ahh, yes, I am but I’m not alone right now, so, that’s why._

Hyunjin wasn’t alone? Jeongin furrowed his eyebrows. So… was he with that Seonghwa-person? Maybe they really were more than friends…

The young actor shook his head. He should _stop_ getting jealous. It was kind of scary to notice how bad his crush on Hyunjin has gotten.

**Prince Jinnie:**

_But don’t worry, we can go out for coffee after a shoot sometime next week? ^^_

Immediately, a smile appeared on Jeongin’s face and a moment later he had the urge to slap himself for it. Hyunjin managed to have him lose his cool attitude faster than anyone before. Usually, Jeongin had pride in his composed and kind of savage nature but with the older actor he even struggled with keeping his breathing somewhat normal.

**InnieFox:**

_Sure, Hyung! We can do that!_

Maybe he should just ask Hyunjin about Seonghwa then. They were friends after all and so far, Hyunjin seemed open to talking about himself. If Seonghwa was Hyunjin’s boyfriend then maybe Jeongin would be able to let go of his crush. If not, well, he didn’t want to hope for that just now.

**Prince Jinnie:**

_Great! I’m looking forward to it then. ^_^_

_I have to go now, but I hope you can relax for the evening._

_See you tomorrow, Innie!_

**InnieFox:**

_You too, Hyung!_

_See you at the shoot! ^^_

And if Jeongin had spent the rest of the evening daydreaming about his coffee ~~date~~ meetup with Hyunjin then that was only for him to know.

When Jeongin arrived at the set on Monday Hyunjin was already there, engaged into a seemingly intense discussion with Chan.

“Yeah, it’s fine, Hyung, don’t worry. Seonghwa is staying home today, so it will be fine,” Jeongin heard Hyunjin reassuring Chan.

There was _Seonghwa_ again. Did something happen to that person?

“Okay, but if you need to leave just tell me. I’ll figure something out. And if you need any help or whatever you know that Felix and I are here for you,” Chan replied. He didn’t seem 100% convinced that everything was fine.

“I will, Hyung. Jeongin told me the same thing yesterday. You didn’t, you know, tell him?”

Now Jeongin was full out frowning. Tell him _what_? So Hyunjin was keeping something from him. But could he really blame him? They weren’t _that_ close yet so Jeongin couldn’t expect the other to trust him with everything.

“No, of course I didn’t. That’s for you to share…if you ever feel like you want to tell him. You two have grown awfully close during the past weeks,” Chan replied and raised an eyebrow.

Jeongin felt himself blushing. Just what was he implying…

“Uh, well, he’s great, I guess,” Hyunjin mumbled and rubbed the back of his head. He seemed embarrassed and maybe a bit shy, but that could just be Jeongin’s wishful thinking.

“I’m thinking of telling him one day. I just, I’d like to”-

Jeongin couldn’t hear the rest of what Hyunjin was saying as a loud “Inniiiieeee” was shouted into his ear and a second later he could feel a pair of arms hugging him from behind.

“Hi, Lixie,” the young actor replied, trying to mask his disappointment of not being able to hear the rest of Hyunjin’s and Chan’s conversation.

“How was your day off?” The freckled boy asked after turning him around and cuddling into his chest.

“Ahh, I was sleeping and eating and not doing anything, I guess. Just trying to relax, you know?” Jeongin replied as his hand found its way to Felix’s hair. It has already become a habit to cuddle the Aussie like that. Felix loved giving hugs and affection as much as receiving them and who was Jeongin to deny him.

“I can understand that. We were chilling too. Channie ate all of our food,” Felix replied and giggled.

Jeongin had found out in the first days of working on Yellow Wood that Chan and Felix weren’t only close friends, but they also lived together. They were basically brothers and the more time Jeongin spent with them the more he could see just how much love they had for each other.

“Hey, not fair! You shouldn’t be that good at cooking if you don’t want me to eat everything!” Chan protested in a playful tone of voice. He and Hyunjin had approached them; Jeongin guessed they had heard Felix greeting him excitedly.

“Lixie, please cook for me too! I can’t stand hearing Chan-Hyung praising you cooking anymore without being able to taste it myself!” Hyunjin whined and pouted.

“Sure, I can do that. We can invite you over for dinner one day then, right Channie? You too, Jeongin!” Felix exclaimed excitedly and Chan nodded while chuckling.

“What my little one wants, my little one gets,” the eldest said dramatically and Felix blushed.

“Don’t call me that in front of everyone!” he whined and the others laughed. Jeongin had never seen someone as cute as Felix; it was endearing. Sometimes, it felt as if Jeongin was the older one between the two of them.

They fooled around for a few more minutes before Chan ushered the other three to get ready, exclaiming that “we really need to get to work if we want to finish before midnight”, and Jeongin let himself get dragged away by Felix.

“See, that wasn’t so bad, right?” Hyunjin asked him hours later when they had finished shooting. The two of them were sitting in their designated chairs they used when they had to wait between shoots. The staff was packing up their equipment and Chan had told them to wait a few minutes before going home; he wanted to raise a toast for finishing the first episode.

“What wasn’t so bad?” Joy asked; she was sitting next to them as Felix wiped away the dirt he previously painted on her face, as it was needed for the scene.

“Innie was nervous about his acting skills,” Hyunjin explained and reached out to ruffle the younger’s hair. “But you did great, so there was nothing to worry about!”

Jeongin smiled sheepishly. “You’re right, Hyung. It went better than expected. I was worried about the robbery scene, but it turned out well.”

They had filmed the meeting of the main characters a few hours ago: Joy’s character, Park Jinae, was working at a small 24/7 store which Hyunjin’s character, Yoo Hajoon, visited to buy himself some food as he was out to take a break from studying for school. Then Jeongin, Lee Youngsoo, had come in with a mask on his face and threatened them with a knife, wanting to steal food and drinks. In the end, Hajoon had managed to catch him and reveal his face and that’s how the first episode would end. They had already filmed the next few minutes in which Hajoon demanded an explanation and told Jinae to call the police. The rest of the scene was already shot a few days ago:

_“Youngsoo-Oppa?” A young girl walked into the store just as Jinae had pulled out her phone to dial the number of the police. The child’s eyes widened when she saw Youngsoo pressed against a wall by Hajoon, who stared at him angrily._

_“Saeron, go! Hurry, run back to the others!” Youngsoo told her frantically but she didn’t listen._

_“What are you doing to Oppa? Leave him alone, don’t hurt him!” She yelled at Hajoon and grabbed his jacket, trying to pull him away from Youngsoo._

_Hajoon frowned as he took in the sight of the young girl. Her clothes were quite dirty and definitely not warm enough for the temperatures outside. She looked thin, too thin. Hajoon shook his head and tightened his grip on Youngsoo’s wrists._

_“Why did you try to steal? Did you really think you’d get away with it? Especially after threatening us?” He asked angrily._

_“I can explain,” Youngsoo said, he sounded calm, calmer than Hajoon would have expected, considering his situation._

_Hajoon looked at him, really looked at him, and noticed how the boy’s state seemed to be similar to the child’s one. His clothes were worn out and thin, his shoes had holes in them and Hajoon felt like he could break him if he were to tighten his grip._

_His frown deepened before he looked at Jinae who was still holding her phone, unsure of what to do. “You promise not to run away?” He asked the boy who nodded and Hajoon let go of him slowly._

_Youngsoo turned around and sank to the floor, opening his arms for Saeron to run into and hug him. He held onto her tightly, as if he didn’t trust the other two teenagers to not hurt her._

_“Talk,” Hajoon demanded and Jinae walked over to them as well._

_“I- we need that food,” Youngsoo explained, carefully watching the others’ expressions. “Without it we’re starving.”_

_Hajoon raised an eyebrow. “Starving? You’re telling me that two kids need to steal food in order to survive, in a country like ours?”_

_He could see Youngsoo’s stoic expression change into an angry one, “Six!”_

_Hajoon frowned. Six what?_

_“Six kids are starving if I don’t get them the food. Food I have no choice but to steal. And yes, in a country like ours. But I don’t expect_ **you** _to understand that.”_

_Hajoon’s eyes widened and he heard Jinae gasping. Six kids were starving?_

_“What is that supposed to mean?” Hajoon asked instead and Youngsoo scoffed, looking them up and down, his gaze resting on their school uniform’s logo representing the expensive private school the two of them attended._

_“That means that I don’t expect two chaebols, who throw around their money like nothing, to understand the meaning of starving or the way life works for the people who aren’t lucky enough to have a daddy paying someone to wipe their asses for them! Now, let me have that food and save the kids and just forget about this…please, they have no one!” Youngsoo exclaimed._

_His words were like poison to Hajoon’s ears; he hated being reminded of his parents. However, the anger and desperation now visible on the other boy’s face left him unable to throw some mean words back at him._

_It was quite for a few seconds. Saeron still tried to hide in Youngsoo’s chest, shaking slightly._

_“Okay,” Jinae then said and Hyunjin whipped around to glare at her. “What? We can’t just let him off!”_

_“Yes, we can,” Jinae replied a bit more confidently, “We can be not total assholes and let him feed these kids. I’ll just pay for it myself; **I** have the money. He clearly doesn’t!”_

_Youngsoo looked at her with a hopeful expression on his face._

_“And how do we know he’s not lying to us?” Hajoon exclaimed even though he knew himself that the other boy was telling the truth. His pride forbade him to just give in; his privilege making it hard to believe that there were actually kids in South Korea who were starving like that._

_“I can show you,” Youngsoo answered flatly, his face back to being void of any emotions._

_“Show us what?” Hajoon asked._

_“Show you my life. Show you the starving kids. Then you’ll believe me, right?”_

_Hajoon gulped, suddenly feeling scared. Did he really want to see that? Again, it was Jinae who replied._

_“Alright, we can do that,” she said and picked up Youngsoo’s bag. She put the food and drinks on the register and looked at the young boy. “Do you need anything else?”_

_Youngsoo just stared at her for a few seconds, clearly surprised at her actions, before he got up slowly and nodded._

_“Do you have cough and fever medicine?” he asked and Jinae nodded before telling Youngsoo to follow her. Saeron trailed along, holding onto the boy’s hand tightly._

_Hajoon watched them as he tried to process the boy’s last words. He needed medicine; did that mean that not only the kids were starving, but they were sick as well? Hajoon felt nausea creeping up. Sick, starving kids outside in this weather without anyone but another starving teenager to take care of them…it sounded like something straight out of a movie._

_Jinae and Youngsoo returned a minute later and the girl put the medicine on the counter as well. “Saeron?” Youngsoo asked as the girl wasn’t by his side anymore. There was no reply. Hajoon could see the boy’s expression changing to a frantic one as he looked around for the child. Taking pity on him, Hajoon walked through the aisles, trying to find the small girl._

_And he did find her, staring at a stuffed teddy with wide eyes. She didn’t seem to have heard her Oppa calling for her._

_“Saeron?” Hajoon asked carefully and the girl whipped around and stared at him with a frightened expression. Hajoon could feel his chest clenching painfully._

_“Hey, it’s okay. I won’t hurt you,” he tried to explain but the child still looked unconvinced. “You like that stuffie?”_

_Saeron nodded slowly before dropping her gaze to the floor. “Only Minha has a stuffie because she is only three. Oppa says we can’t af-afourt more. And stealing is bad so we only steal food.”_

_Hyunjin tried to swallow the lump in his throat at the realisation that there was a three years-old along the six starving kids Youngsoo had told them about. Impulsively, he walked over to the girl and grabbed the stuffie to push it into Saeron’s arms._

_“It’s okay, I’ll get it for you,” the girl’s eyes widened before she bowed deeply and ran back to Youngsoo…_

When Jeongin had first read the script he had teared up while reading that scene and filming it has been quite emotional as well. They needed to reshoot it quite a few times as Hyunjin had a hard time keeping up the somewhat cold attitude of his character. He had been close to tears a few times but in the end the scene turned out well. They still needed to shoot the scene of Hajoon and Jinae meeting the other kids, but that was scheduled for Wednesday.

Jeongin had felt himself crushing harder on the elder as Hyunjin had hugged the child actress tightly after finishing the shoot. He had told her what a great job she did and that she should enjoy having enough to eat and living a good life. Hyunjin had such a beautiful and pure side to him; it made Jeongin want to protect him.

Hyunjin’s arm on his shoulder pulled Jeongin out of his thoughts and caused him to look at the other man.

“There you go, Innie!” Hyunjin pushed a beer into his hands and Jeongin noticed the rest of the crew huddling together, waiting for Chan to raise the toast.

“Thanks, Hyung,” Jeongin replied and smiled at Hyunjin who grinned back at him.

“Oh, Innie, right,” the elder suddenly exclaimed, “We wanted to go out for coffee! How about we do that this Friday? The shooting is supposed to finish at 4 pm which means it wouldn’t be too late in the afternoon.”

Hyunjin looked at him expectantly and maybe a bit hopeful and Jeongin couldn’t resist: “Ahh, sorry, Hyung, but I already have plans on Friday. Maybe we should do it next week.”

Just as he had expected, Hyunjin’s facial expression changed until he resembled a kicked puppy and stared at Jeongin while pouting. The younger boy tried to keep up his serious attitude, but he started laughing after a few seconds. Hyunjin looked so grumpy that it was funny…and a little bit cute.

“I’m only joking, Hyung. Friday would be great!” Jeongin half said, half laughed as Hyunjin pouted even more.

“Innie! Stop teasing me! I was really sad for a second,” he whined but Jeongin could see him trying to keep himself from laughing too.

“Why? You were sad that I didn’t have time for you?” the young actor continued to tease and received a glare in return.

“Yes, I was. You should spend more time with me, got it?” Hyunjin explained; his question sounding more like a demand. Jeongin felt himself nodding without meaning too. His brain was still trying to process that Hyunjin had been sad and jealous and now wanted to spend more time with him.

“But then you have to spend more time with me as well,” Jeongin replied, trying to stay confident, and he could swear he saw Hyunjin blushing.

“Of course, I will,” he said and smiled at the younger and the two just looked at each other in a comfortable silence. They both hadn’t even noticed Chan raising the toast or the crew cheering happily.

Their moment was broken when another actor walked up to them to congratulate them for their hard work and that’s the last time Jeongin saw Hyunjin for the evening.

The next two days passed by fairly quickly and uneventfully. Jeongin didn’t do anything besides sleeping, eating and shooting scenes for the drama. They were all so caught up with the preparations, run-throughs, monitoring and filming that he didn’t interact much with any of the boys if it wasn’t work related.

Now it was Thursday and Jeongin and Felix were currently sitting on the sofa in the portable container used as a dressing and make-up room for when they were filming outside instead of the studio. The Aussie’s legs rested in his lap while he was busy playing something on his phone and Jeongin was trying to focus on the script in his hands. There were about twenty minutes left before he had to shoot his next scene: Hajoon was waiting at the corner leading to Youngsoo’s and the children’s “home”, trying to catch Youngsoo and talk to him. At the moment Hyunjin was outside shooting one of the scenes leading up to his second encounter with Jeongin’s character.

“Felix?” Jeongin asked hesitantly, putting down his script, and the other man looked up from his phone expectantly.

“Remember our conversation from the press conference?”

Felix’s eyes widened and he nodded before sitting up straighter. “I do, Innie. You wanna talk about it?”

“No, not really. It’s just…you reacted like it was nothing, you know,” Jeongin mumbled and the other seemed confused. “Having a crush on a man, I mean,” the younger of the two specified.

Realisation flashed across Felix’s face. “Well, it isn’t nothing, but it’s not a big deal. You like who you like, simple as that,” he said and smiled at Jeongin gently.

“I know that most of Korea has a different opinion on that matter, but you won’t find judgement here with us, Innie. We love you for who you are! I mean, just look at me!” The Aussie laughed and gestured to his today’s attire.

He was wearing an oversized, fuzzy blue sweater which matched his hair beautifully, a pleated black skirt just short of reaching his knees, his usual silver accessories, and black Dock Martens. Like always, his eyes were glittering with make-up and he even had applied little gemstones on their outer corners. When Jeongin had come up on set this morning he hadn’t been able to not stare at Felix; it was the first time he had actually seen a man wearing a skirt. Don’t get him wrong, Jeongin thought the Aussie looked stunning, he just had been surprised.

“You look beautiful, Hyung,” Jeongin told the other and received a wide smile.

“Thank you, Innie! You know, life is too short to worry about what others will think of you. Chan helped me with understanding that. It’s thanks to him that I’m confidently wearing skirts in public now. So, don’t hide your true self from us, okay?” Felix looked at him intensely and then reached out to pat his head affectionally. Jeongin smiled and nodded.

“Yeah, Hyung, I’ll try,” he replied, suddenly feeling a bit shy, but Felix didn’t seem to mind. “Trying is good,” he simply said.

The two of them continued talking until the other actors entered the dressing room, Hyunjin included. He walked up to them and dropped onto the sofa between them with a dramatic sigh.

“I’m so tired,” Hyunjin complained and closed his eyes. Felix chuckled at him, “Only two hours left, Jinnie. Then you can go home and sleep.”

“Sleep sounds good,” Hyunjin said dreamily, “Oh, Innie, we’re up in ten. Chan told me to tell you, obviously. Lixie, do you need to touch up my make-up?”

The freckled boy inspected his face before leaving and returning with powder and a brush in his hands. He plopped down on Hyunjin’s lap, “Just stay like this, Jinnie.”

The actor groaned approvingly and Jeongin felt himself smile as Hyunjin visibly melted into the sofa. He looked really exhausted.

A minute later Felix deemed Hyunjin ready and the actor protested at Felix’s attempt of getting up. “You’re warm, Lix. Stay, please!” And so, they stayed like that until the ten minutes were up.

Jeongin helped Hyunjin to his feet after Felix managed to leave the man’s lap and chuckled at Hyunjin’s displeased expression.

“Come on, Hyung! Don’t you wanna shoot that scene with me!” Jeongin teased and poked the other’s side to get him motivated again. It seemed to have worked, considering Hyunjin was back to smiling and hugging Felix once they stepped onto the filming scene, waiting for the crew to set up the last details.

Then they got to work again. With the call of _action_ Jeongin could feel himself falling into the role of Lee Youngsoo almost automatically. Over the weeks he had been able to understand his character more and more and by now he could say that he has grown fairly attached to him. Lee Youngsoo shared a lot of principles and character traits with Jeongin but had his own little quirks as well which made him a fun character to play.

They managed to finish shooting the first part of the scene with ease, only needing a few takes to get everything done. Chan smiled at them with a pleased expression, mumbling something about them being ‘a dream team’. Jeongin tried hard to keep his face from turning red. Because the camera crew had to set up their equipment in a new way for the next part of the scene, Jeongin and Hyunjin were talking to Chan, who gave them some last few acting directions.

“Hyunjin!” They heard Felix call out suddenly and turned around to see the freckled boy rushing towards them with a ringing phone in his hands.

“It’s Seonghwa,” Felix exclaimed as he reached them and Hyunjin’s eyes widened before he grabbed the phone hectically and answered the call.

“Hyung? What’s going on?” Jeongin could hear him say before the actor walked a few steps away from them.

Even though he didn’t hear the other’s voice anymore Jeongin couldn’t stop himself from staring at him. A few seconds into the call and Hyunjin’s posture seemed to turn rigid; Jeongin could see the colour escaping his face.

“Lix, what’s going on?” Chan asked the other Aussie who just shook his head. “I don’t know, Hyung. I was just cleaning the make-up brushes when Hyunjin’s phone started ringing so I checked who was calling him. You told me I should give Hyunjin his phone immediately if it were Hw- Seonghwa, so I did.”

Jeongin could hear Felix’s voice trembling slightly and Chan seemed to have noticed as well as he pulled him into a hug. “Thank you, Lixie. You did well,” he said and then looked at Hyunjin with a worried expression on his face.

Jeongin just felt confused. Okay, and worried of course. He had no clue what was going on but considering the Aussies’ concerned expressions and Hyunjin’s white face while said man was still talking to _Seonghwa_ , Jeongin guessed that it couldn’t be something good.

Just as he decided to ask the two other men about it, Hyunjin had ended the call and approached them with hurried steps.

“Hyung, something happened, I- Seonghwa needs my help, I “- Hyunjin tried to explain but he seemed to choke up and Jeongin could feel himself panicking slightly at Hyunjin’s distraught state.

“It’s alright, Jinnie, you don’t have to explain. Just go, we’ll manage,” Chan replied reassuringly and placed a comforting hand on Hyunjin’s shoulder. The actor let out a shaky breath and nodded before rushing inside and returning with his bag and jacket a second later.

“Lixie, I’ll return the clothes tomorrow, I promise,” Hyunjin said and pulled all three of them in a short hug.

“Of course, Jinnie. Just go, don’t worry about it. Call us as soon as you can, okay?” Felix asked, he sounded close to tears himself.

Hyunjin nodded at him, “Don’t worry too much, we’ll be fine!” The smile he sent the freckled boy didn’t seem that convinced, but Jeongin sensed that it was the best Hyunjin could manage.

“Take care, Hyung,” the youngest said quietly, he felt like he was intruding something he shouldn’t be a part of. Hyunjin didn’t seem to care.

“Thank you, Innie,” the actor replied and raised a hand to brush it across Jeongin’s cheek for a second. Then he turned around and walked away quickly, slowly changing towards running and Jeongin’s eyes rested on him until he rounded a corner.

It was quiet between the rest of them for a while before Chan cleared his throat and patted both their backs. “I’ll tell the crew to pack up for today. This would have been the last shoot, so we can go home now. I guess we’ll finish the rest tomorrow, but I’ll wait for Hyunjin’s call. Maybe we have to rearrange if he can’t come in tomorrow. Innie, are you available the whole day?”

Jeongin nodded. Originally, he only had a shoot in the afternoon, but if Hyunjin couldn’t make it that would mean they would change plans and shoot a couple more of Jeongin’s scenes tomorrow.

“That’s good,” Chan said, “I’ll get back to you as soon as we know how Sa-, um… we know if Hyunjin can come tomorrow.” After those words, the eldest smiled at them and walked away to talk to the crew.

“Lixie-Hyung?”, Jeongin asked and the other man looked at him with the concerned expression remaining on his face. “What’s going on? Chan seems to know what’s wrong, doesn’t he?”

Felix sighed sadly before nodding. “Yeah, he does. I do too, but… well, we’ve known Hyunjin longer than you so don’t be too sad that you don’t understand what’s going on, okay? Hyunjin doesn’t like talking about it, so I won’t tell you either. But you can ask him when you see him again. He wouldn’t be mad or anything.”

A weak smile made its way on Felix’s face and Jeongin sighed, “I get it, Hyung, really. I’m just worried. It sounded like something has happened. Will Hyunjin be okay?”

Felix seemed hesitant but eventually nodded again. “Yeah, he will be fine, but it’s not about him…”

“So, that Seonghwa then?” Jeongin couldn’t stop himself from asking.

“No, not directly. Seonghwa’s just involved, but – I can’t tell you, Innie, I’m sorry,” Felix said before pulling Jeongin into a strong hug. “We can’t do anything but go home for now. I know that’s unsettling, but at the moment there is nothing we can do to help.”

Jeongin hugged him back tightly and buried his face in Felix’s neck, inhaling the soft flowery scent of his perfume. “I understand, don’t feel sorry, Hyung. I just hate feeling useless.”

Felix pressed a soft kiss against his hair before pulling away from the hug and taking Jeongin’s hand in his own. “Come on, let’s get this make-up of your face and get home. Chan and I can give you a ride if you like.”

Jeongin nodded and let himself be pulled forward by Felix, giving in to the Aussie’s coaxing. He had started talking about Australia, to distract them from the Hyunjin situation, obviously, and Jeongin took it, grateful for the maybe obvious but very much needed distraction. He knew he wouldn’t be helping anyone with procrastinating. Jeongin just hoped that Hyunjin would be okay… 

Hyunjin hadn’t come on set on Friday.

When Chan had called Jeongin to let him know that they would shoot two more of his scenes it had been nearly midnight. If he were honest, Jeongin already kind of expected Chan to tell him that Hyunjin wouldn’t be able to make it. The actor had been so distraught after getting the phone call from Seonghwa; Jeongin just knew something serious was going on.

So, that’s how Jeongin spent his Friday – shooting his individual scenes the whole day. He did enjoy himself; they managed to get done an important scene of Lee Youngsoo and his high school teacher as well as another one with the child actors playing the other homeless kids. Jeongin loved children and thought himself quite capable of handling them. The happy laughter and excited giggles helped distracting him from a certain blonde actor in his mind. Chan and Felix didn’t talk about Hyunjin at all either.

When he received a message from Hyunjin shortly before three in the afternoon asking him to reschedule their coffee “date” for Saturday Jeongin couldn’t help but be surprised. He had totally forgotten about their planned outing, too caught up mentally with everything that had happened. That Hyunjin had remembered about it had made Jeongin feel a bit better. Hyunjin reassured him that Saturday would work for him after Jeongin had told him that they could always hang out later if Hyunjin had to take care of things. Things being the big mystery Jeongin still had no clue about. But since Hyunjin told him that he had time Jeongin was now sitting on his bed with his outfit for Saturday next to him.

“You’ll look amazing, Innie. He couldn’t _not_ ask you on another date after tomorrow!” Yeosang grinned at him. The older man had arrived about an hour ago after Jeongin had texted him about his outing with Hyunjin, having demanded to help pick out the younger’s outfit.

“Hyung, for the last time, it’s not a date,” Jeongin whined but Yeosang only winked at him and he groaned.

“I know, you said that about five times now,” the beautiful man replied cheekily, “and I still don’t believe it. Before you know it Hyunjin will ask you to be his boyfriend.”

“Whatever you say,” Jeongin grumbled sarcastically before standing up and walking to his kitchen, Yeosang following him.

“As a thank you for helping you, cook me dinner!” Yeosang demanded, hopped on the kitchen counter and stared at the younger man expectantly.

“You know I don’t cook. I only have Ramen,” Jeongin answered while opening a cupboard and then throwing a plastic bowl of instant noodles at his Hyung.

“I’ll take what I can get,” was Yeosang’s dramatic answer and the next few minutes were spend by the two of them chatting mindlessly while waiting for the water to boil.

They spent the evening catching up on what was happening in each other’s lives during the past week. Jeongin told Yeosang about the shoots and briefly mentioned his worries regarding Hyunjin. Just like Felix had said, Yeosang proposed for Jeongin simply ask Hyunjin if he wanted to talk about it.

Jeongin changed the topic afterwards, he didn’t want to dwell on the whole issue too long; he was already nervous enough to meet Hyunjin the following day.

Yeosang then told Jeongin about the latest job offer he got. Yeosang was a freelance photographer picking up work whenever he found one that he liked.

“And I said that I’ll do it but only if they leave me free reign over the set ideas and so on,” Yeosang explained. He had gotten an offer to shoot for a clothing brand. They needed someone to take photos of their new collection and asked Yeosang. Usually, the boy would prefer taking photos of landscapes, cultural events, wildlife and so on. That’s why despite only being 22 years old, the man had travelled a dozen of countries already. He lived a fairly simple life, being a photographer didn’t nearly pay as well as other jobs did, but he seemed happy with it.

“Why did you even take that offer?” Jeongin asked, confused as to why his friend decided to photograph for a clothing brand.

“Uh, well, I like them. They make cool outdoor clothing, which is why I said yes. So, I still get to go out and photograph nature…just with a human being the focus. However, the main reason is that I wanted to stay in Kore for a while and that was the best offer I could get in the next weeks,” Yeosang replied and smiled at Jeongin.

“Why do you wanna stay here? You usually love travelling, Hyung. You always tell me you can’t wait to leave the country again,” Jeongin asked, frowning slightly.

“Well, that’s right, but honestly I know how important that drama is for you…so, I wanna be here with you and be able to attend your drama release event, watch the episodes each weak, take care of you if you’re having a hard time and, well, pick out your clothes because you got yourself a date with a hot co-actor,” the older man said and grinned embarrassedly.

Jeongin felt himself blushing; he was awkward with expressions of affection no matter if he received them or gave them to someone. That didn’t mean he disliked the warm feeling spreading in his stomach though. With a loud cooing sound Jeongin dropped down in Yeosang’s lap. They had moved to the couch a few minutes ago after finishing their Ramen.

“You’re so sweet, Sangie!” Jeongin squealed in a high-pitched voice, making kissy faces at the other who scrunched his nose in disgust.

“Eww, go away, Innie. You’re being gross,” he protested and grabbed a pillow to hit Jeongin’s face with.

“Hyung is a meanie, don’t hit me!” Jeongin whined back and their bickering ended about five minutes later with them slumped down half on the couch, half on the floor, trying to catch their breaths.

“No but seriously, I appreciate that Hyung. Thank you for staying. It is somehow relieving to know that I won’t be…um, alone, you know?” Jeongin said quietly and stared at his hands. He felt a bit like a child at how happy he was that Yeosang would be here with him.

A hand started to brush through his hair softly. “Of course, Innie. I won’t let you feel alone, Hyung promises. You have me,” Yeosang told him gently. They both knew that they were thinking of Jeongin’s parents. Knowing that they didn’t care much about their son just because of his choice of career and sexuality still hurts sometimes. But thanks to Yeosang Jeongin wasn’t alone when his emotions got the best of him and he needed someone to hug and shower him with love. Yeosang knew how grateful Jeongin was even if the younger man had troubles expressing it.

It was shortly after midnight when Yeosang had left. He had declined Jeongin’s offer to stay the night, mumbling about how he had to get up early for work and not wanting Jeongin to lose any more sleep. After a bit of pouting from the younger man – which he would deny ever having done a minute later – Yeosang promised to stay over some day soon with them playing video games till three am.

Jeongin tried to not think of Hyunjin or them hanging out in a couple of hours after he had crawled into his bed. If he got nervous now, he wouldn’t be able to get any sleep at all. They had agreed to meet up at three pm in a coffee shop Hyunjin suggested, saying that they had some of the best coffee and cupcakes there were in Seoul. How could Jeongin have said no to that; it was Hyunjin after all.

Jeongin walked into the café, glad to escape the cold. It was the beginning of May but somehow the weather decided to bring back cold temperatures for the next days.

The young actor looked around in search of Hyunjin and found him sitting at a cosy space next to a window, looking as beautiful as always with his face half hidden under a bucket hat. Jeongin approached him while taking in the atmosphere of the café; it was quite small but very homy and comfortable. Soft music was playing and the smell of coffee and sweets filled the air.

Jeongin arrived at the table and Hyunjin looked up from his phone before smiling at the newcomer. A frown appeared on Jeongin’s face; the other actor looked like he hadn’t slept at all.

“Hi, Innie! Come sit down,” Hyunjin said softly and Jeongin complied.

“Hyung, hi!” the younger man exclaimed happily but still frowned at the other, “Hyung…are you alright?” Jeongin couldn’t stop himself from asking. He was too worried. Dark circles were prominent under Hyunjin’s eyes; his lips were bitten raw and he was still somewhat pale.

Hyunjin sighed at his question. “I’m sorry, I must have worried you yesterday,” he started in a small voice, “I… let’s order first, okay?”

Jeongin agreed hastily. Hyunjin looked close to crying and Jeongin’s heart grew heavy. They had a look at the menu and after ordering they waited in silence for their drinks to arrive. It wasn’t an uncomfortable silence necessarily, just a little bit unsettling.

Once their order arrived Hyunjin seemed to relax a little bit. He told Jeongin to go ahead and taste his drink; the younger had decided on a cappuccino with a shot of expresso, a bit of spice and a scoop of crushed cocoa beans – something Hyunjin had recommended him after finding out that the younger man preferred his coffee strong.

“I love it!” Jeongin exclaimed with wide eyes, “It’s so rich in taste.” Hyunjin smiled at him brightly before taking a sip of his own coffee. He had told Jeongin about his sweet tooth after ordering a latte macchiato with vanilla, sirup and grinded hazelnuts.

It was quiet again while the two of them just enjoyed their drinks. After a few minutes Hyunjin started fidgeting with his hands before looking at Jeongin.

“I…I probably owe you an explanation…,” he started and the younger actor was quick to stop him. “No, Hyung, you don’t. If you don’t want to talk about it, it’s fine!”

Before Jeongin could stop himself, he had reached out and grabbed Hyunjin’s hand with his own, squeezing it tight but reassuringly. The other man stared at their hands for a second before smiling at Jeongin and nodding.

“Okay…if you say so,” he started again, “I do wanna talk about, but I don’t know if I can just yet.” Hyunjin stopped talking and took a deep breath. “You’re probably wondering who Seonghwa is, right?”

Jeongin bit his lip at the question, feeling caught, but he still nodded.

“Seonghwa is one of my best friends. He’s basically my older brother. We actually live together for a few years now and have been through good and bad times together,” Hyunjin said and Jeongin felt a bit bad for the relief cursing through his veins.

_So they weren’t dating._

“However, our time together has never been totally _good_ …some hardships just always remain, I guess. I know that that’s the interesting part but I don’t think I can talk about just yet. Maybe one day soon…it’s just…difficult,” Hyunjin looked at the other with an apologetic smile.

“It’s fine, Hyung, I get it. It’s not like we’ve known each other for ages…we’ve just met a few weeks ago, so don’t stress too much,” Jeongin tried to explain calmly; he hated the guilty expression on his Hyung’s face.

“We do indeed and yet I already wanna share my life’s stories with you,” Hyunjin mumbled quietly and Jeongin’s eyes widened.

“W-what?” He blurted out surprised as he felt the heating rising to his face. Hyunjin seemed to react similarly.

“I-I mean…well,” the older actor stammered and cleared his throat, “I wanna get to know you better, learn more about you. I know we’ve only known each other for a few weeks but it feels much longer. I…I feel really comfortable with you, Innie. Like I can just be myself…which is a very hard thing for me to do.”Hyunjin’s expression had changed to a determined one even though the blush remained on his cheeks.

“I’m not…not as perfect as I may seem to others. Actually, I’m a mess. I have a lot of baggage and unpretty moments that I usually hide behind walls, but I really wanna try letting you in…if you let me.”

For a moment, Jeongin could only stare at the other man while the words coursed through his head. Hyunjin wanted to get to know him more? They were friends, so that’s only natural, right? Or did Hyunjin mean that in a _different_ kind of way?

They younger actor bit his lip before meeting Hyunjin’s eyes. “Hyung, I- I’m not sure I understand what you’re getting at,” Jeongin said eventually, internally cursing himself for the way his voice was shaking. Hyunjin didn’t seem to notice as he rubbed his head embarrassedly.

“I mean that I, well, hope we can do this more often and just see where…where things will lead us,” he tried to explain before groaning. “Okay, damnit… I’m attracted to you, Jeongin, and if you by any chance feel similarly, I would like us to get to know each other better – without any pressure or expectations…just the way we feel comfortable.”

Jeongin could feel his face turning bright red and his hands getting sweaty. He felt the wheels turning in his head, trying to make sure that those words had really left Hyunjin’s mouth and weren’t an imagination.

“I’d love that, Hyung!” He blurted out suddenly, not being able to contain his happiness anymore. A wide smile appeared on his face and he grabbed Hyunjin’s hand again.

“I do feel the same, actually. So…yes, we can do that more often and,” Jeongin gulped nervously before saying the last words, “maybe call it a date then.”

The wide smile he got from Hyunjin in return was an answer itself and soon enough the two of them were giggling over their coffees, exchanging stories on how they’ve been crushing on each other for the past weeks.

Their hands never left each other for the rest of their ~~outing~~ date.

The following week passed like seconds but Jeongin could swear there has never been a better week in his life: The shooting was fun; he had fully adapted to his role and every scene was as exciting as the previous one. He also got more confident in his own acting skills – something about the monitoring they did in between scenes really helped him understand that he was doing a good job at expressing all the different emotions his character was feeling.

Chan and Felix started feeling more and more like family to Jeongin, especially after him and Hyunjin had spent dinner at the Aussies’ place. Felix proofed himself to be an amazing cook and the four of them had a fun evening filled with laughter and stories from their childhoods. Chan had fallen into full dad mode, telling silly jokes one after another and by the time Hyunjin and Jeongin had left the youngest’s stomach was hurting from laughing too much.

And of course, there was Hyunjin.

Hyunjin looking all beautiful when they monitored the scenes, Jeongin having a hard time focusing on himself as his eyes always seemed to wander back to the other actor.

Hyunjin being all cute and affectionate whenever Jeongin arrived at set. It sort of became a ritual for the elder to hug him tightly for a few minutes before letting him get ready. Those minutes were spent with them asking each other if they had slept well and those minutes always brightened up Jeongin’s mood.

He had gotten to know more about Hyunjin in the spare periods of time between the scenes and by now he could confidently say that he picked up on most of the older actor’s little antics and habits. For example, how Hyunjin’s gesturing got more intense the more invested he was in telling a story, or how he couldn’t control his facial expressions at all when he wasn’t in ‘mysterious actor mode’.

Friday had been the icing of the cake for Jeongin. It had been the airing date of the first episode of ‘Yellow Wood’ and most of the crew had met up in the same place they had their first reading at. They all had wanted to watch it together and multiple people had brought food and drinks.

Even their producer had been present, someone Jeongin hadn’t seen for another time since the first reading. He had assumed that it was mostly Chan who interacted with the middle-aged man. Jeongin’s impression of him still hadn’t changed; in comparison to the rest of the crew Ahn Kanghoon just seemed like a typical rich businessman more interested in profit than the actual drama.

He hadn’t dwelled on it for long; he had Chan, Felix and Hyunjin with him after all. The older Aussie had been close to tears after the episode had finished and Jeongin hadn’t blamed him. He had been feeling emotional himself. Halfway through the episode, Jeongin had felt Hyunjin reaching for his hand and the man had intertwined their fingers, hiding them under his jacket placed over their laps. They had been sitting so close to each other Jeongin had been able to feel Hyunjin’s breath on his cheek, something he hadn’t complained about at all. If Hyunjin had noticed how Jeongin had tightened his grip on the other’s hand then he hadn’t commented on it.

Another 40 minutes had passed and then Jeongin and Hyunjin had stood in front of the younger’s flat saying goodbye to each other. The elder had offered to drive Jeongin home and he had agreed easily. He would take every chance he could to have more alone-time with the blonde man. They had spent the car ride singing along to TWICE songs after having had found out that they both liked the group’s music a few days prior.

“Have a nice relaxing weekend, Innie,” Hyunjin had said as one of his hands stroked the younger man’s cheek. Jeongin had stood in front of his already opened door and really hadn’t wanted the evening to end.

“You too, Hyung. Make sure you get some rest,” he had said instead and the other man had pulled him into a hug. He had been able to feel Hyunjin smile against is head before soft lips had pressed a gentle kiss against his forehead.

“Goodnight,” Hyunjin had whispered before stepping back, turning around and walking away. Jeongin had stared after him until he had disappeared into his car and driven away.

He had the joy of recalling all his ‘lovey-dovey’ moments he had experienced with Hyunjin in the past week when Yeosang had basically lynched him about it a day later. Yeosang had made true of his promise and the two friends locked themselves in his apartment for the weekend, playing video games, eating and just spending some quality time together. The older man hadn’t stopped grinning after Jeongin had started talking about Hyunjin. Of course, he had already known what had happened at their coffee date, but that hadn’t stopped him from getting Jeongin to repeat every detail again. Jeongin still wasn’t sure how he had survived Yeosang’s endless teasing.

“And cut! Great job, guys! That’s it for today,” Chan called out and Jeongin, Hyunjin and Joy sighed in relief. It was the Tuesday following the release date of Yellow Wood’s first episode and they had been shooting for the past six hours. Now, they’ve went for longer periods of time before, but some of the scenes had been quite intense and exhausting to them. In general, they could take it a bit slower with shooting these days considering that they have finished all the scenes up until episode six. Time wasn’t as much as a pressure as before. Chan had been pleased with their hard work and rewarded the crew with a few more breaks in between scenes.

“Thank god, “Joy groaned, “My feet hurt from all the running.” The woman shot them an exhausted grin.

“You have another schedule with Red Velvet at six, right Noona?” Jeongin asked her while they were retreating to the containers. She had mentioned something about that earlier.

“Yeah, I do. I just wanna sleep but I guess that will have to wait,” she sighed and Hyunjin gave her an encouraging pat on the shoulder. “What are your plans for the evening, boys?”

“Ah, Seonghwa, my best friend, is picking me up and we’re running some errands,” Hyunjin explained to her, “that’s why I came with public transport today. I didn’t expect it to take _that_ much less time than coming by car,” Hyunjin’s voice turned fascinated at the last words and Jeongin started laughing. “What really?” He exclaimed surprised.

Joy nodded in agreement, “When you only travel by car to not get recognised every few minutes then you really don’t know those things.”

“You should start getting used to travelling by car, Innie,” Hyunjin said and Jeongin looked at him confused. “After Yellow Wood finished airing people will recognise you anywhere because you’ll be so popular!”

Joy laughed but voiced her agreement before saying her goodbyes, explaining that she had to get changed and ready to leave for her next schedule.

Jeongin blushed from Hyunjin’s words. “Let’s see about that,” he mumbled, “I don’t own a car, so…”

Hyunjin was quick to help, “No worries, I can drive you home every day. If you’d like that I mean…” Now the older actor was blushing and Jeongin grinned at him. “We can do that.”

A few minutes later and the two of them had changed back to their own clothes and Felix was cleaning Jeongin’s face. As Lee Youngsoo was sort of a homeless teenager, he often had some kind of dirt on his face and Felix always tried to make his bones and dark circles stand out more to produce the image of Youngsoo not getting enough food or rest. They were once again discussing evening plans when a to Jeongin unfamiliar person approached them.

“Hey Jinnie,” the newcomer said in a smooth and deep voice. Hyunjin turned around, smiling brightly, before basically leaping in the other’s arms. “Seonghwa-Hyung!”

So that was Seonghwa, Jeongin thought while eyeing the man. He was tall and slim and just like Hyunjin looked like he had stepped out straight of an anime. He was incredibly beautiful with his soft looking hair dyed a beautiful silver, dark big eyes and plump lips which were curved into a warm smile as he looked down at the blonde actor cuddling into his chest. He was dressed in denim jeans and a white button-up shirt.

“Hi Seonghwa-Hyung!” Felix chirped excitedly and approached the man as well. “I miss- it’s nice to meet you again, I mean…”

Seonghwa smiled at the freckled boy before his gaze fell on the youngest of them. “Hello, you must be Jeongin, right? Hyunjin told me that the man he was crushing on had ‘a facial structure that sharp it cut could you and eyes like a fox’ which can be applied to you, so…”

Hyunjin screeched in embarrassment and placed a hand on Seonghwa’s mouth to stop him from speaking. Jeongin felt himself blushing and grinned at Seonghwa.

“Hyung said that about me? Ahh, yes, I’m Jeongin. It’s nice to meet you. I heard a lot about you from Hyunjin,” he said and bowed.

“It’s nice to meet you too, Jeongin-Ssi,” Seonghwa replied after Hyunjin had released his mouth.

“Wait!” Felix then exclaimed, “Innie, why aren’t you more surprised that Hyunjin is crushing on you?” The blue-haired man eyed the two actors suspiciously.

“Uhh, well…,” Hyunjin started explaining, “We’re going on dates, sort of…”

“What!” Felix was basically shouting, “Why didn’t you tell me!” He whined at them and pouted.

“They were embarrassed, guessing from their red faces,” Chan said as he approached them, having heard their conversation. Jeongin glanced at him shyly but the eldest expression was unreadable.

“Hello, Seonghwa-Ssi. It’s nice to see you again,” Chan greeted and bowed lightly which was returned by the silver-haired man.

Hyunjin and Jeongin looked at each other with red faces; they didn’t know what to say. Felix came to their rescue. “I’m happy for you two! You look so cute together, I ship it!” He smiled at them excitedly and pulled them into a tight hug.

“I’m happy for you too, but…,” Chan started still with that unreadable expression on his face, “just be careful, okay?” He exchanged a look with Hyunjin and Jeongin saw something flashing through the blonde actor’s eyes that he couldn’t quite grasp. Was it fear?

He furrowed his eyebrows in confusion and worry. Did Hyunjin have some bad experiences with _these_ things? Chan seemed worried about something as well and Seonghwa had placed a reassuring hand on Hyunjin’s shoulder…

As fast as the strange expression appeared on Hyunjin’s face as fast it was already gone and replaced by a smile. “Of course, Channie-Hyung, we will.” The strange atmosphere shifted back to the relaxed one from before.

“Anyways,” the actor continued, “I guess Seonghwa and I will go now. It’s kinda late and we have to be somewhere, so…see you all tomorrow!” Hyunjin hugged Chan and Felix before approaching Jeongin and his expression softened immediately.

“Bye, Innie. Have a great evening,” he said gently. Jeongin smiled back and pulled the older man into his arms. Usually, it was Hyunjin who initiated their hugs but after seeing the scared expression on his face after Chan’s words Jeongin felt the need to comfort Hyunjin. He seemed at bit surprised at Jeongin’s hug but returned it nonetheless and the younger man gathered all his courage and pressed a kiss onto Hyunjin’s hair. He tried to ignore the other three men’s eyes on them.

The two of them pulled back from the hug and after shooting Jeongin a quick wink he turned around and grabbed Seonghwa’s hand.

“Okay, bye guys!” Hyunjin exclaimed.

“It was nice to see you all,” Seonghwa added in his smooth voice and they all said their goodbyes.

Hyunjin’s eyes lingered on Jeongin for a short moment and then the two men walked away, leaving him with the Aussies who eyed him amusedly.

“That worked out well then,” Felix giggled and after a moment of silence the three broke out in laughter at the freckled boy’s obscene eyebrow wiggling. Once they had managed to catch their breaths, Chan shook his head and looked at them expectantly.

“Anyone wants to get coffee? My treat.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading!!!


End file.
